Digimon: The Beast of the Sea
by Sabretoothed Ermine
Summary: An old story of mine using the Digimon idea and my own characters. It was created for my sister, so of course it's cheezy.
1. Prologue

In another world, another dimension, two evils already have been overcome. The first was but an inhabitant of that world, and defeated as such. The second, however, was simply.converted. It is still living, and has proven itself, however much it may believe otherwise, to be susceptible to the Dark Side. And in the new Dark Lord's eyes, this Emperor of Evil could prove itself very useful in the taking over of the worlds.  
  
Ken was a boy genius. He had short, purple hair and wore clothes of simple whites. Famed throughout the country of Japan, where he lived, his proud parents still had a video tape of that time, one year eight months two weeks and a day ago, when he had been shown on national television. He shifted unhappily at the memory - then, he had been a different person altogether. That was before. but never mind. He shook his head as if to try to rid himself of those thoughts, and turned back to the sophisticated laptop computer he was working at. His room was small, with little furnishings - a neatly made bed, built-in wardrobe, plain desk and a couple of football posters on the wall. One of them had him in it - he played for the school and had actually made it to the district team, but had quit to be with his best friend, Davis. Being a genius, one would expect to see figures and numbers covering his bright computer screen. Instead, it looked almost like a cheap Internet page. Some writing scrolled across the top, and in the centre was a black rectangle. Ken narrowed his eyes in concentration, his fingers tapping lightly over the keys with confidence and speed. At last, he gave a triumphant "Hah!", as a small red light flashed on below the box. Expectantly he waited, until at last the box became full of colour. It was like a miniature television screen. It depicted green grass and blue sky, on a rolling hillside landscape. At the foot of the hill, trees swayed in a slight breeze. Everything seemed to be in order. except. "Worm-mon?" He called uncertainly at the screen. "Where are you?" A movement appeared on the grassy hillside, and his narrow eyes lit up with delight. "Wormmon!" What looked like a small, fat green caterpillar with purple markings and big, sad eyes came scuttling closer, and stopped just before it looked as if it was about to run into the screen. "Hello, Ken!" It said in a deep, slightly trembling voice. Before Ken could say more, it went on; "Listen, I have not got much time. A new evil is come. I don't know what, but I can sense it. There are some kids in the year below yours, three girls and two boys. You must bring them together, and the Digital World will do the rest. Most importantly of all, someone must find the Warrior of the Sea if he is to save us!" "Wormmon, who.?" Ken started in bewilderment, but the creature interrupted. "Get Davis and the others together, and give them your Digivice. If I can digevolve, they will have a hard time." It looked around desperately for a moment, seeming suddenly agitated. "Find Tai and Matt - Agumon and Gabumon need their help. Ken, I am in danger here." "Then I'm coming to help you!" The boy cried, but the digimon shook its head vigorously. "No, no, don't come any closer! Ken, this new evil, it. will bring back vivid memories, it will cloud your mind. Deny it! Do not force your friends to fight you!" Wormmon turned and began to run back to the cover of the woods, but even as it faded, his tremolo voice shouted back over his shoulder: "I will always see you as a friend, not a master!" And with that, the box went blank. 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Leviomon  
  
The bell rang, signalling the end of the class, and of the school day. The high school students breathed a sigh of relief, chatting amiably as they left the room. One, however, remained. He had spiky blond hair and was wearing the dull school uniform - gray trousers, green blazer. "Tai!" He called at the retreating class. "Come look at this!" "What is it, Matt?" A tall boy with wild brown hair turned and walked back. He recognised the shred of graph paper Matt was holding, and said, "It's from Ken! That boy genius in the grade below that Davis and the others made friends with!" He stopped to peer over Matt's shoulder and read the tiny handwriting aloud. ""Meet us in the computer room after school tomorrow. Wormmon told me some puzzling information. Tonight, Tai and Matt should please travel to the Digital World. Agumon and Gabumon need your assistance. Pass it on." At the bottom were seven signatures. "Looks like we're the last ones to read it, huh", said Matt. Tai nodded, and rose. "Let's go the computer room right now. We need to find out what's going on here."  
  
When they reached the computer room, it was empty, save for one girl. Tai regarded her thoughtfully, then snapped his fingers in triumph. "That's it!" He said, "You're Jake's girlfriend, aren't you?" The girl turned. She was in the year below Davis, and had short brown hair, pinned back by a purple braid ending in a water-droplet shape. This swung around as she spun, flushed with embarrassment, to face the older boys. "He's not my boyfriend!" She muttered. "We're just friends, that's all." Tai laughed, and Matt grinned as he walked into the room. Jake was a good friend of Davis's. "What's your name?" Tai asked her. She smiled back coyly, and replied: "KT. Just KT." Tai looked confused. "I didn't know TK had a little sister." The young girl looked annoyed. "I'm not TK's little sister! Though I do know him. you're Taichi, right?" She considered. Swivelling on the spot, she said, "And you're Yamato!" He nodded, and sat down at a computer. Tai walked up to KT. "So what are you doing here anyway? Computer club's not until Friday." She studied him carefully for several seconds before reaching into her pocket and pulling out what looked a little like a smart, white-and-blue hand-held computer, possibly a Tamogochi. Tai's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. KT looked at him hopefully. "Do you know what it is?" She asked. "I came here to look it up on the Internet - it just appeared in my schoolbag. It may have been a present from someone. Breddy, Ali and Paul got one too. But I think mine's the coolest, it's the nicest colour." Tai held up a finger to stop her flow. He presumed Breddy and Ali were her friends, though he had never met them. Paul he vaguely knew to be the little brother of a girl in his French class. Focusing back on KT, still struggling with the significance of it, he uneasily explained. "KT, that's a Digivice. It wasn't a present from anyone; it's from the Digital World. But I wonder why the Digital World sent you and your friends one?" He seemed to forget that KT was even there, and began talking as if to himself. "This must be tied up with that note from Ken. Something's not right in their world." His musings were interrupted by Matt calling him over to his computer, and he motioned for KT to follow. On the screen, a little red light flashed on, and a box lit up with a grassy scene. Matt smiled grimly. "The Gate's open. Now it's time for us to go meet whatever - or whoever is in there, messing things up." He stood, and fished around in an inside pocket until he found what he was looking for. It was a Digivice, similar to KT's, but more square in shape. He held it out to the computer screen. "Boy, I haven't done this in a while!" He said, not quite concealing the nerves in his voice. Tai laughed, bringing forth another device from his own jacket. KT looked from one to the other, confused. "Just do like Matt did," Tai advised her. Did? She thought; but when she looked again at the computer, Matt was gone! He had completely vanished into thin air, and she gasped in shock. Quickly, she glanced under the table, but he was not crouched beneath it. Tai laughed and nudged her in front of the screen, standing next to her and holding his own Digivice out towards it. Slowly, she did the same.  
  
Suddenly, she was flying through the air! Bright colours flashed around her, electric sparks and glowing tubes. She laughed giddily, enjoying the experience, and plunging forward into a dive. "Oooof!" KT landed heavily on a layer of soft, green grass. Luckily, this had padded her fall. She righted herself and brushed herself off, all the while looking around in amazement. She was standing on a grassy hill, in the open air. The sky was blue, and below her a dark forest swayed with the slight breeze. It was a beautiful landscape - still, she had to shake her head to try and get her thoughts in order. One minute a computer classroom, the next zooming through some electrical theme park ride, and now. this. Something felt different about herself, too. She looked down in surprise. She was no longer wearing the dull gray skirt and white necktie of the school uniform - now she wore tight-fitting, pale jade shorts and an aquamarine T-shirt with a yellow and green star fanning out from the centre. She admired this new outfit, privately thinking it rather slimming. "I still don't see why new people get cool new clothes and we get whatever we wore last," Tai muttered behind her. Her thoughts were rudely interrupted by a high-pitched voice. "Tai!" She glanced around, to see a very strange sight. A small, orange dinosaur, similar to a baby T-rex, was running across the grass. It was followed by an even stranger creature, coated with white fur with blotchy purple stripes, and a horn. From behind her came a thunderous outburst, as both older boys nearly rushed her off her feet in their hurry to reach the creatures. "Agumon!" Cried Tai as the dinosaur bowled into him, knocking him flat. "Hey, take it easy, big guy!" "Gabumon!" Matt called to the striped digimon, running to embrace it. As it got closer, KT could see that it was actually yellow and reptilian under the fur coat, with pink and blue markings on its belly. Its enormous front paws nearly dragged on the ground; but she had a suspicion that the powerful claws were just part of the skin it wore. KT watched helplessly as greetings were given all round. Somehow, she was not surprised to learn that these creatures could talk. The high-pitched voice, it seemed, belonged to Agumon; Gabumon had a throaty, deep voice. She felt awkward - not only were all the others males, they all seemed to know each other, and she barely knew even Tai. Matt she had seen once playing at a rock concert at school, but had never really talked to. She stared at the ground and occupied herself with scuffing her school shoes along it. Finally, there arose a pause in the active conversation. Tai seized this moment to say, "Hey Agumon, didn't you two have something to tell us? I thought you needed us, but you seem to be all right." "Yes, yes!" The dinosaur nodded vigorously. "We'll go to our Meeting Place. It's a glade a little way into the woods - very sheltered." Gabumon inclined his head in agreement. "And there's a little cave right nearby, which can be useful when we're not strong enough to digevolve." The digimon said. Matt looked worried. "But Gabumon, now that the Evil Emperor's been taken care of, why would you need to digevolve? I thought most digimon were friendly without those dark rings around them." "That's exactly what we need to talk with you about!" Exclaimed Agumon cheerfully. He did not seem willing to say any more as yet, so they shrugged and started off down the hill. KT felt something had to be done at this point. "Hey, what about me?" She shouted at their descending backs. Tai turned around guiltily. "Oh KT, I'm sorry! I forgot, you'll need to find out about those Digivices while you're here. We'll explain about the Digital World on the way to this Meeting Place Agumon told us about." KT gladly caught up with them, and was soon listening intently.  
  
The digimon were right - the glade, when they reached it, was quiet, surrounded by thick trees and bushes. A canopy of twigs and leaves extended all the way over it, forming a secure roof; through which, green sunlight filtered down, filling the area with a dim glow. KT admired it as she sat on soft moss on the ground. "I think in a way, it all started with Ken," Agumon began. "Even when he as the Evil Emperor was defeated, the enormous extent of his evil remained - hidden, but existing. Then this new Dark Lord, as he calls himself, came along, and used it to strengthen his power. He has built himself a fortress, going deep underground." "But I don't understand - surely the digimon would fight him?" Said Matt. Agumon lowered his eyes. "Well, many of them did. Veemon and I helped lead their forces. But as you know, not all digimon are good. Some are evil by nature, bad to the core. The Dark Lord gave them immense power, and added his own mind powers to the battle." Gabumon suddenly looked intently at Matt and Tai. "Listen," he said. "I know you may not want to believe this, but it's true - I swear!" Tai looked uneasy. Gabumon took a deep breath before continuing. "That day, we all saw him return. He wore his cape, dark glasses - and he used Dark Rings!" Matt interrupted him by pounding his fist on the ground. "No! It's not true," he cried, "the Evil Emperor was defeated before. Ken's good now." His voice trailed off as it was cut off by another, louder, scornful one. "Ken? Ken? He never existed. I was always, and shall always be, the Evil Emperor!" Startled, all five looked up. They could see nothing beyond the leafy shelter. and suddenly, something immense came sweeping down, flattening their cover on one side of them. Sunlight poured in around a dark silhouette. All five of them cried out and moved aside to see the thing without being blinded. There, sitting atop a mountain of white fur, was Ken. He was no longer wearing simple white - now, he wore high black boots, a swirling dark cloak, and piercing shades. His normally tidy, well-groomed hair was wild and spiky, and his grin malicious. But what alarmed the boys and their digimon more was what he said next. "Ikkakumon, Birdramon, Kabuterimon, attack!" "Ikkakumon, Birdramon, Kabuterimon?" Tai yelled in disbelief. But Matt laid a hand on his arm to restrain him. "Tai, they're not themselves. See there!" He said, pointing. Around Birdramon's leg, Ikkakumon's foreleg, and Kabuterimon's waist, were three Dark Rings. Tai looked up fearfully. Four pairs of glowing red eyes towered over them (Kabuterimon had two). But his reptilian digimon shook him out of his reverie, and immediately he shot into action. "KT, run for the cave!" He shouted, gesturing in the opposite direction. She hesitated a moment, not willing to leave the boys on their own; but decided to follow his advice, and hared off. Tai and Matt turned back to the descending monsters with determination, and held out their Digivices again.  
  
Twigs thrashed her face and bare arms, roots tried to trip her up; but within moments, KT was within sight of the cave. It was no more than a thin crack in a cliff face - of course, she thought, this made it a better hiding place. Just before entering, she glanced back - the sight that met her eyes held her for a moment longer. A giant insect, flaming bird and enormous white, fluffy walrus were pouncing down on where she had left Tai and Matt, and she shrieked as she realised there was no way Agumon and Gabumon could hold off those giants. She had left them, and run like a coward! (She did not remember that in fact she would only have got in their way, and that running was by far the most sensible thing to do.) But then, two huge shapes rose up out of the trees. One was a vast orange dinosaur with blue stripes, wearing a horned skull. The other was a white wolf with purple stripes, three whip-like tails, and feathers sticking out from its shoulder blades. Each took on a foe --the wolf leaped at Birdramon, spewing ice from its jaws; the dinosaur lunged for the white walrus, and for the Evil Emperor standing atop it. But the massive blue insect sped round behind them, evading blows from each creature. KT couldn't stand it any longer, and ran inside the cave. It was dark inside, and she waited for a minute to let her eyes adjust to the dim light. What light there was seemed to be coming from deeper inside the cave, so she walked nervously on. The floor was rocky and slimy, the air stale. The light grew slightly brighter as she turned a corner, and she gasped as it faintly illuminated a large cavern, with dripping stalactites hanging from the ceiling, far above and deep in shadow. It was vaguely circular in shape, and the walls and floor glistened with moisture. But the thing that demanded the most attention was on a raised platform, right in the centre of the cave. A very thin line of light emerged from around the rounded object, and KT went cautiously closer to inspect it. It looked like a water-coloured Easter egg. It was pale turquoise, with a bright blue design on it. A frill ran over the top of it, ending on what she assumed to be its front in a small red spike. Nervously, KT prodded it, then jumped back in case it was about to hatch. She glanced around for a parent, but could see no other sign of life. The glow seemed to be coming from beneath the egg. Slowly, she stepped up to the platform and rested her hands on it. It was smooth, and pleasant to touch. She took a deep breath, and tugged at it. It came away surprisingly easily, but she barely noticed. For where the egg had rested was a hole, and from this hole shone a brilliant ray of blue light, so bright it almost hurt her eyes. She gazed at it in wonder - it was beautiful. Within the ray of light, a hazy shadow seemed to be forming. Within moments, it had grown into a large ball, becoming more and more solid. And finally, two bright, turquoise eyes flickered open within it. KT goggled. Before she had time to move out the way, a large blue lizard sprang out from the light. This was the haze within, and this was what the eyes belonged to. Its mouth was opened wide in a broad grin, and there were sharp red claws on its webbed feet and down its back. Its back legs bent forward, like a human's, but it stood on all fours. It was bright blue, with a pale aqua belly and water-droplet shape on its face. KT squealed as it jumped at her, but all it did was hug her as if she were an old friend. "Heehee!" It giggled in a shrill, nasal voice. "I'm Leviomon, and I'm gonna be your partner from now on! I can't wait to get started! Who are you? I like your braid!" And he stopped chattering to finger the blue droplet in her hair. KT let out an astonished breath. So, now she had a digimon of her own, just like Tai, Matt, Davis and all the others! "I'm called KT," she told him, as there seemed to be nothing else to say. "Just KT? What does it stand for? What's that noise?" He asked abruptly, cocking his head on one side to listen, though KT could see no sign of any ears. A loud roar sounded from outside, followed by a crash. A howl went up, ending in a yelp, and another loud roar. "The others!" KT said in horror - she had forgotten all about them! With Leviomon hard on her heels, she ran from the cave, out into dazzling bright sunlight. "What others? Who's that? Garurumon!" He cried suddenly. He was serious as he talked rapidly now. "KT, I have to digevolve! Garurumon's down, though he took Birdramon's ring with him - I can see Biyomon now, she can't do anything useful really.Greymon's weakening! I gotta help!" KT stared at the scene before her. Greymon, the dinosaur, was wrestling with Ikkakumon, the walrus - between them, they were flattening the landscape. A small pink bird was fluttering helplessly around them, sending tiny attacks at Ikkakumon and the Evil Emperor. The white wolf was struggling for breath, panting in a mess of burnt and frozen trees - even as she watched, it diminished in size until it was an exhausted Gabumon, who Matt came running to protect against Kabuterimon. A grim determination came over KT, and she knew, somehow, what had to be done. Narrowing her eyes, she held out her Digivice and focused all her energy into Leviomon.  
  
Before he knew it, Leviomon was in a world of colour, of dancing figures and writing in thousands of languages. Two designs - crests, she knew that now - flashed before KT's eyes, and she knew also that the first, the same as on the egg and her Digivice, stood for Fortitude; the second for Knowledge. The digimon felt the spirits of Tentomon and Kabuterimon, Veemon and X- Veemon soar within him. With a light-hearted and rejoicing laugh, he shouted with all his might: "Leviomon digevolved to." What? What did he digevolve to? He could barely contain his excitement as he grew in size, darkened slightly in colour, lost his back legs but acquired a powerful fluked tail. Finally, a bright red skull with a horn on the nose appeared in his hands, and he rammed it on his head. ".Mermon!" He realised. Taking a deep breath, he roared with all the might of the ocean waves, loving the depth and force in his new voice. And then, he caught sight of the battle scene. Kabuterimon was swooping down upon a weak Gabumon, and Matt trying to shield him with his own body; the Evil Emperor was clutching a Dark Ring in his gloved hand, preparing to use it on a pinned Greymon - but was struggling because Tai was attempting to wrestle it off him. Mermon growled angrily. He didn't like that annoying, evil person. Just as Kabuterimon had opened his claws and was baring his many. pincers, for lack of fangs - a blue jet struck him full in the waist. He screamed as it sent him sprawling on the ground, shattering the evil Dark Ring, and reducing him to a small, red bug - Tentomon. Ikkakumon found himself thrown off Greymon and sent flying by a powerful sweep of Mermon's tail. Greymon clambered unsteadily to his feet, but could not uphold his digevolved form any longer, and shrank to fall into Tai's arms. Mermon dragged his huge body, more suited to water than land, over to the fallen Ikkakumon. The vast digimon looked up at him, baring long tusks and rolling maddened eyes. Coolly, Mermon lifted Ikkakumon's heavy front paw up to his mouth, covered as it was by the strong skull, and clamped his teeth down hard. There was a sharp crack, and Ikkakumon gasped in astonishment as shards of black metal cascaded from Mermon's jaws. Mermon spat. The taste of those Dark Rings was disgusting, and he vowed always to crush them underfoot in future. Suddenly, he heard a noise. He looked down. KT was hugging his wrist, cheering.  
  
"I'm very sorry about the trouble we caused." Gomamon, a white-and-purple digimon with huge front feet and an orange crest, apologised. Biyomon smiled, as much as one can with a beak. "Thank you for saving us! I'd hate to think I'd killed my friends!" She said. Tai laughed. "It was no trouble, guys. We'd better get back and tell the others - this Dark Lord sounds like we'll need reinforcements." "Yeah, I have to get back tonight. My band's got a gig on the day after tomorrow, and we really need to practice." Matt agreed. "We three'll go find a computer; I'm sure I can log us on to the communications system. Izzy and the others will be wanting to know how we are!" Said Tentomon. And with that, the three digimon descended the hillside, into a beautiful sunset. The rosy light of the sky reflected in Leviomon's wide eyes as he chattered to KT and the boys. "Are we going to your world now? What's it like? Agumon and Gabumon, you've been there before, haven't you? Maybe I'll have to pretend to be a stuffed toy too! I like stuffed toys. Do you have any, KT? I'm better than any stuffed toy! What's that smell? I sense evil in the air, do you too?" Agumon and Gabumon exchanged fearful glances. "The Dark Lord." Whispered Gabumon. Agumon sprang to his feet. "Quickly! Quickly! We've got to get back! KT, you and Leviomon go first." He said. Yawning, KT heaved herself up. She would move faster, only. she was so tired. Tai and Matt were soon on their feet, Agumon fiddling with a small screen on the ground. "There!" He proclaimed. "The Gate's open. Now. Gabumon! What is it?" For Gabumon was galloping down the hillside. Looking closer, KT could see a red shape darting towards him. "It's Lyomon!" The purple-striped digimon called back up. Agumon's eyes widened. Tai looked from one to the other in confusion. Then, his attention was pulled back to Leviomon. "There is evil in the air. it's getting close! KT, we must go, quickly! Matt, Tai, please, hurry! I think. I think the Dark Lord's tampering with the Gate between the worlds!" This brought in new panic. Matt and Tai feverishly ran down to where Gabumon had the newcomer in a fierce embrace, and Agumon was pattering towards them. But KT had no time to watch, for she suddenly felt herself shoved forward by a still babbling Leviomon. His pleading eyes bore into hers, and she felt instinctively that she must heed his warning. With a last, desperate glance behind her, she held out her Digivice as she had done before, and let the colours, sparks and tubing wash over her, filling her with a momentary joy and carefree feeling. Next to her, Leviomon was beside himself, and she looked forward enormously to introducing him to her world.  
  
"What's up, Lyomon?" Cried Agumon, "Where are Megmon and the girls?" Lyomon was a rusty red digimon with enormous forepaws and claws to match, but smaller back legs with no claws at all. She had a simple, weaselly tail ending in a black tip, and a creamy belly. Her face was straight but slightly dog-like, her ears were drooping and rounded, with black at their base; her eyes were orange and fierce, with black markings underneath running down her muzzle. When she spoke, her upper canines revealed themselves to be bigger than the rest, and stuck out even when her mouth was closed. "Our. our mission failed." She said sadly. Her voice was husky, but still sounded, as did all Rookie digimon's, like a youngster's. There was a tone that suggested she herself had not accepted this news, and was just hearing it for the first time. "Thir, Nabu, Megmon. the Dark Lord took them and locked them up with the rest of the digimon awaiting Dark Rings." She looked at Agumon, but at Gabumon in particular, and said with a sudden desperation: "Please! I need your help! Otherwise." She was cut off by an outraged shout from above. "Gabumon! Get back here! Leviomon said the Gate's gonna close!" The digimon opened his mouth in agonising indecision; and as Agumon started scrambling back up to Tai, who was waiting impatiently, he quickly turned back to Lyomon and whispered, "We'll come back!" When he next looked back, she was gone. Tai and Matt ran with their digimon back up the rest of the way, skidding to a halt in front of the miniature screen. "No. I don't believe it." Matt murmured. No red light flashed, the screen was blank except for six letters:  
  
ha ha ha 


	3. Chapter 2

In the deep, deep blackness, the blackness of the void, 'neath the parched, thirsting land where no thing remains free. something stirred, a shadow within shadows, a whisper in still air.something stirred.  
  
Chapter 2 - the meeting  
  
By the time school ended the next day, KT had told Jake, Breddy and Ali about her adventure in the Digital World, and explained to them their digivices. All three were now keen to go there too and meet their digimon, although Breddy and Ali did not like the idea of fighting monsters. Now, as the bell rang again for the end of school, KT remembered something that had been troubling her all day, something she had heard Tai and Matt talking about. They had mentioned an urgent meeting of the "Digidestined", whatever that meant, and that they would be needed very much in order to tell the others (whoever they were) about what had happened that day. But she had not seen them at school today, even though she looked everywhere at lunch. That meant that the important information could not be delivered to their friends; and only she knew it. On impulse, she approached the person she felt she trusted most. He had brown hair, cut neatly and straight - despite obvious effort, though, it still stuck up at the sides. He was tall, and like everyone else wore a school uniform. He looked at her a little oddly - she had reason to believe he didn't really think she was telling the truth. Well, she would show him! She marched up to him and asked with a whine in her voice and her best puppy-dog eyes: "Ja-ake." "What is it now?" He asked, grinning. "Will you come with me to the computer room, please? I-I have to meet some people there, but they're all older than me, and I only know your friend Davis." "Davis?" He said, puzzled, "What's Davis doing there that he needs to meet you?" She looked at him beseechingly, and finally he sighed and agreed. "Great!" She said, instantly cheering up. "Oh, yeah. I've just gotta get something from my locker first." Patiently he waited by the door while she trotted around the corner to where their block of lockers stood. There was a bang, a crash, and some scuffling noises. Curious, he wandered over; but narrowly missed walking straight into KT, who was coming the other way with her bag hanging lopsidedly on her back and what looked like a stuffed toy cradled in her arms. He peered closer. It was a kind of fish, with big eyes and a huge grin. "KT, what's that." He began, but she ignored him and started off in the direction of the computer room. He sighed once more, scratched his head in bewilderment, and followed her down the corridor. "Girls."  
  
As soon as the pair entered, eight heads turned towards them. KT smiled nervously. "Jake! Um. er. what are you doing here?" Davis started trying to herd them out the door. "It's all right, I know very well you're having a secret meeting thingy in there. But Davis, how do you know all those people? And KT-" here he swivelled round to face her -"how do you know all these people?" KT felt helpless. But in her arms was someone who knew exactly what to do. "Finmon, don't!" She hissed as he wriggled in her grasp, but he was a perfectly streamlined shape for such a purpose. Before she could catch hold of him, he was bouncing cheerfully across the floor, finally settling in the centre of the room, right in front of where the eight older students were seated around a computer. KT went bright red, but the others seemed not to be watching with amazement - more with mild interest and much thought. She walked into the room, wondering how on earth she could cover all this up; but before she had gotten far, a shrill, loud whistling sounded, and a light shone from the small screen of her digivice. "Oh, no." She moaned, but it was too late. In front of eight older students, some more so than others, and her dumbfounded friend, the fish-like Finmon cried out his name, before growing legs, a longer tail and snout, and a cheeky expression. ".Leviomon!" He finished triumphantly. "Cute. But more importantly than who he is, how did he get here?" A boy with glasses and dark blue hair asked. KT felt she had to speak up. "He's. mine. My partner, I mean. I'm KT, by the way," she added. The boy nodded - he looked like the eldest there. "I'm Joe, this is Sora, and that's Izzy at the computer." He introduced the other eldest kids. Sora and Izzy both had brown hair - the girl smiled and waved. Another girl, with short mousy hair and a camera around her neck, introduced herself and a boy next to her with blond hair beneath a floppy hat. "I'm Kari, and this is TK." KT nodded. Those two looked a little younger than Izzy, but a little older than the remaining four, one of whom now spoke up. He was standing behind Izzy at the computer, and his short hair was smooth and straight. "I'm Cody. Davis you know." "Hi, I'm Yolei, pleased to meet you!" A girl with glasses and long light purple hair interrupted. "OK, OK, enough with the introductions already!" Davis cried impatiently. "Everyone, this is Jake. Jake, everyone. Say hi and let's get on with this. Izzy, have you made contact with the digimon yet?" Izzy spoke for the first time. "Not yet. I'm having trouble hacking through to open the Gate, I think there's some kind of bug on the net." "KT, Jake, come on, sit down. Tell us how you got Leviomon." Said Sora, motioning them to a couple of empty seats. TK asked Jake, "Do you have a digimon?" Jake shook his head. The movement seemed to remind him to close his mouth at last. He opened it again to ask what that thing now sitting in KT's lap was, but thought better of it - the others would only get at him for not believing her earlier. Suddenly, Kari turned to the others. "Where's my brother?" She asked. She was Tai's little sister, and had been the first to make friends with Agumon in his very lowest form, all those years ago. "And mine! It's not like them not to turn up without telling us why," said TK. Matt was his older sibling, though both had been on the first adventure together. "That's. what I need to tell you about," said KT. All of them except Izzy, concentrating furiously on the computer, hushed and looked at her. She coughed awkwardly before continuing. "Yesterday, I found this digivice in my schoolbag. So did Jake, and three of my friends. Today Breddy told me her little brother's friend, Paul, found one too." The hairs rose on the back of her neck, and she had the strange feeling she was being watched by hostile eyes. "Tai and Matt found me in the computer room, trying to research about them. They took me to the Digital World, and they met their digimon there. But they also." "Who are you?" A voice suddenly asked from the back of the room. A figure stepped forward, and KT furrowed her brows. He was somehow familiar. "Oh yes, this is Ken!" Apologised Davis. KT's eyes widened - Ken! She knew where she had heard that name before! "I know I recognise you from somewhere, and your digimon." Ken was saying in puzzlement. "You!" KT screamed. "You're all in league with him!" Kari rushed forward, and Davis leaped up. "With who, KT? You're not making any sense?" She said, trying to maintain calm. "With the Evil Emperor! With the Dark Lord! He"- she pointed dramatically at Ken -"is the Evil Emperor!" She could see the others were confused. "KT, it's all right! He's good now, don't you see? We destroyed the Evil Emperor ages ago, now there's just Ken!" Protested Sora. KT stopped, but only to take a gulp of air. "When we went to the Digital World, just yesterday, he was there! Tai and Matt, they called him Ken, but they were confused as well! He had dark rings around three digimon - I think they were called. Ikkakumon, Birdramon, and. Kabuterimon!" Joe and Sora leaped to their feet. Even Izzy turned from the computer screen, looking worried. "Greymon and. Garurumon, I think. they tried to fight them, but couldn't do it without the help of Mermon here." She let a touch of pride sneak into her voice. Leviomon looked up at her and opened his mouth to start talking, but before he could Ken shook his head in disbelief and began muttering haltingly and quietly; yet somehow managing to focus everyone's attention on him. "No. that can't be! I-I came here tonight to pass on a message which Wormmon gave me, that's why I gave you that note!" They all looked at him questioningly, allowing him to speak. " Wormmon spoke to me on my computer. He told me to send Matt and Tai to the Digital World, because their digimon needed their help. He told me to bring together four girls and three boys, new kids in the year below - I think these are two of them, the new Digidestined. He told me we had to find the Warrior of the Sea, who or whatever that may be. And he told me. to give this to you." Slowly, with a slightly trembling hand, he pulled out his black Digivice. The others waited, grouped around him in an unconscious semicircle. "I suppose Tai, as the original leader of our rapidly growing little gang, should be the one to accept this." Kari suggested. "But as he isn't here, I say we give this responsibility to Davis." Joe, Sora, TK, Yolei and Cody all nodded. Izzy was typing faster than ever, not seeming even to notice what was happening in the room. Davis looked around in surprise. "Who, me?" He asked incredulously. Yolei sighed in exasperation, as if to say: "Who else?" Davis got the message, and gravely stepped forward. A slight flash passed over Ken's eyes as he held out the digivice to the younger boy; but it left instantly, and Davis carefully picked up the digivice and pocketed it. "Well," sighed Joe, "Now that that's done, we can think about why Ken had to hand over his digivice. Without that, Wormmon can't digevolve - a skill he'll need if he wants to fight this here Dark Lord." "That's what Wormmon said," Ken said gloomily. "He said you'd have a hard time of it if he could digevolve." "What on earth can that mean?" cried Sora. KT shuddered. From her lap, Leviomon spoke at last. "That seems sensible to me. After all, it's bad enough having an Evil Emperor with digimon as his slaves, without having Stingmon as his friend." There was a stunned silence. Then Cody tentatively asked in his grating voice, "Ken, where were you yesterday after school?" Ken put his head into his hands. "I don't know!" He wailed despairingly. Yolei could contain herself no longer and rushed forward to hug him. But as she put her arms round his neck, she gasped and pulled back. "I think I see what's going on," she said, her voice quavering just slightly. Everyone held his or her breath as she stood aside and slowly lifted Ken's chin. Then Kari cried out. Firmly clamped around his own neck was a Dark Ring. "So that's why he can't remember anything." Joe began, but was cut off by a shout from Izzy. "I'm through! The Gate is open!" Immediately, everyone crowded round the screen. "Looks like we need some answers," said Izzy. "Hopefully our digimon will be able to give them to us." The red light was on, and gradually the hillside scene fuzzed into view. When it was clear, they could see two large shapes. "Hey! Gatomon, is that you?" Kari shouted at them. They stirred and moved closer, coming into clear view. "Tai! Matt! What are you doing?" Joe yelled. Tai shook his head in bewilderment. "I don't know why, but we can't get back through the Gate. We tried just now, when it appeared to be open. The digimon think it's some doing of this Dark Lord, whatever or whoever he is." As one, Joe, Sora and Izzy interrupted him. "How's Biyomon?" "Is Gomamon OK?" "What about Tentomon?" Tai laughed. "Yes, the Dark Rings on them were broken. And -" he added, seeing five other mouths open to ask the same, "- Veemon, Gatomon, Patamon, Hawkmon and Armadillomon are right here. They have something to say." Everyone crowed with delight when his or her digimon appeared on the screen. Hawkmon inclined his head politely at them. "We request your permission." Hawkmon began - "To come aboard!" Patamon cried gleefully. Gatomon smiled, and explained. "We've done our homework - we asked around to gather what information we could about this Dark Lord. About himself, we know basically nothing; though we have heard rumours that without the Dark Rings and the Evil Emperor, all he has left are a few naturally evil digimon." "That's no biggie", said Armadillomon lazily, "We done plenty o' that kinda stuff before. Nah, we got two main problems: one, what exactly to do about this Evil Emperor, or Ken (possibly); two, how to defeat the Dark Lord. Now, it strikes me that if he needs so much defence, can he really be all that strong himself?" Hawkmon nodded. "That is a good point you have there, Armadillomon. Besides that, if he should need so greatly the Evil Emperor, then he cannot even create his own slaves." "We figured the only way to defeat him was in your world," chirped Veemon in a nasal voice. "So, we're coming over to stay for a while!" Davis laughed. "Wait a minute, you mean.?" But to his and the others' surprise, the shapes of all five digimon were leaping straight out toward them, getting larger and larger.  
  
Five seconds later, Tentomon's voice cut through the mass of groaning limbs and bodies on the floor. "Izzy! Come on, what are you doing wasting time down there? Help us out, we can't follow through!" From beneath a human leg, a torso and a feathery digimon body, Izzy thanked his lucky stars for his short height. Carefully, methodically, he wriggled his way out from the bottom of the pile like a snake and surveyed the damage. In squeezing out, he had overturned a chair for its second turn, which was one of many sticking up here and there among the bruised and moaning mess. A movement in the middle burst out into a blue, bright-eyed digimon - Veemon. Hawkmon, a brown bird with a white head, fluttered squashed wings and managed to lift himself clear. Armadillomon rolled out, a yellow shell and humorous eyes that emerged from under it; Leviomon slithered alongside. One by one, the digimon crawled, flapped or forced their way out into fresh air, leaving the cumbersome humans to their own hurts. Izzy turned back to the computer. Tentomon, Gomamon and Biyomon were still standing there, looking slightly sad and lonely. "It must be the same thing Tai and Matt found," he said thoughtfully to the three despondent digimon on the screen. "It doesn't matter, you guys - we don't really have time any more, what with homework and study and all. That reminds me, we have to figure out a way of getting them back soon. Not only are they missing loads of work, but their teachers, Matt's band - not to mention their parents! - have been looking all over for them. And they really don't like hearing the digimon thing again!" Suddenly, Izzy heard a noise. He turned his head; it had sounded like a tiny whimper. His eyes widened in shock. "Ken!" He shouted. Davis, Kari and Jake had managed to unscramble themselves, and were clambering to their feet as delicately as possible. At the back, Ken was clearly struggling with something, choking and grasping at the ring around his neck. But that was not all; his eyes glowed a bright red, and his fingers eventually fell. His breathing was calm again now, but a snide sneer was on his contorted face. In a flash, he had brought up his arm, and was holding something out to the computer. With a shout of dismay, Davis realised that in the confusion he had managed to get hold of his black digivice. Desperately, he lunged for the evil boy, but his fingers closed around empty air; Ken was gone. Tentomon, Biyomon and Gomamon yelled at Ken as he appeared on their side in cape, boots, wild hair and dark glasses; the Evil Emperor impatiently barged past them and strode down the hillside. With a click of his fingers, three huge, snake-like forms rose out of the trees and swooped down to him. As one of them glided past, Ken nimbly jumped onto its back. "Airdramon!" Whispered TK in awe. "And that's not all. Look! They wear Dark Rings!" Kari exclaimed. The Airdramon were soon no more than tiny shapes rapidly disappearing into the distant clouds - KT noticed that in that particular corner, for some reason, dark clouds were gathering thickly. Jake let out a deep breath in relief. "Well, at least he's gone!" He said. "What do you mean, at least?" Davis said. "We now have to chase after him!" "No." Sora shook her head. "We don't." The others looked at her, confused. "We cannot defeat him in that world. The Dark Lord gives him extra power through the Dark Ring." Cody said matter-of-factly. They all looked at him, making him feel uneasy. Still, he continued. "We must try to break the Ring in this world, while he is not under its influence as much. Our only problem will be how, especially if he uses Stingmon." "Yeah, the Dark Lord will probably have given Stingmon super-powers too. That means he might be able to digevolve even further, up to his Ultimate", Joe added. There was a long silence, then Davis frowned determinedly. "Well, he'll have to come back sometime. And when he does, we'll be waiting!" Yolei laughed. "But who'll be waiting? We can't just sit here until tomorrow morning, or perhaps even later!" "I'm sorry, guys, but I can't even stay any longer." Joe said gloomily. "I've got an essay to write and a test to revise for, plus I gotta lot of extra studying to do." "Me too, I'm learning a new way of cracking really top security systems at the moment. Out-of-school, that is!" Izzy grinned. The two boys got up, collected their schoolbags which had luckily been placed on the other side of the room. When they had gone, Sora seemed to have thought of another problem. "OK, so say we manage to defeat Ken in this world. What do we do then about the Dark Lord in that? Not only does he have who-knows- how-many digimon under his control; he might be super-powerful himself. Even if our digimon did manage to defeat hundreds of others, they would be too exhausted to fight an ultimately evil being!" Yolei groaned, and put her head in her hands. "Let's just think about that afterwards. I can't cope with any more of this doom and gloom!" "I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to help you, either," said Sora. "I have to keep on top of my school work, and besides I won't be much use without Biyomon." "That's OK." Davis said. "Jake and KT, I think it would be better if you stayed put on this one. It's nothing personal, but I guess we have had a little more experience. Just try and stay out of trouble!" KT nodded obediently, but catching Jake's eye knew that neither of them had any intention of doing so. "OK, at least the "who" is sorted." Kari said. "Now we need to think about "where". They all sat and thought. TK sighed. "I know it isn't the ideal option, and looks a little low-down and thievish, but. I think we have only one choice." Everyone knew what was coming, but listened anyway. "We're gonna have to wait outside his house for him to come home." "That won't work," Yolei said wretchedly. "We have to do it the other way." Davis flinched. "His mom knows we're friends of his," said Cody. "We've got no choice but to go and wait inside his house." There was a long silence as each of them racked their brains trying to think up an alternative method. But however hard they tried, there did not seem to be one. "It's gotta be done," said Davis, "We'll tell his mum that he said to meet him at his house. We'll wait inside his room for him to come in through the laptop, with our digimon in their Champion forms. Between them and us, we'll break his Dark Ring. Then all we have to do is ensure he goes nowhere near a computer until we've gotten rid of the Dark Lord." "It sounds so simple when you put it like that. But we can make it tomorrow if that suits everyone, because his mum's working then." Yolei pointed out. The team agreed on the date as the next day. TK yawned. "It's getting dark, you guys. We all have to get back home before people start worrying." Veemon asked if the digimon should reduce themselves to In Training forms to be subtler, but Davis said they might as well stay as they were. "So what do we do now?" Leviomon asked KT as they walked home. "Davis said we ought to stay put, but I'd get bored! And besides, Jake and your friends need to find their digimon! Otherwise, what would be the point of the Digital World sending them digivices? I know! Let's take them there tomorrow, after school! Those other digimon were nice, but a bit boring. I want some friends! Friends who are young like me! Oh please let's go tomorrow, KT, please! You can 'phone your friends tonight and get them to tell their parents that they're going to your house! Do you have a computer? Oh good, we can use that! Does it have cool games? I'll need something to do while you're at school." KT smothered a laugh as she listened to her digimon's incessant chattering. But as she walked into the house, her laugh was silenced. The atmosphere in there was extremely depressing, and she walked straight to her room, fast, so that she would not have to linger in it. Her dinner was laid out on her bed, and as Leviomon enthused about it and about food in general, she was not hearing him. 


	4. Chapter 3

In the deep, deep blackness, the blackness of the void, 'neath the parched, thirsting lands where no thing remains free. a noise. A noise to deafen the nearest creatures, were there any. A summoning. THE DARK LORD WANTS MORE SLAVES. HE WANTS MORE POWER. HE SUMMONS THE EVIL EMPEROR THAT IS ONCE AGAIN AND HIS CLEVER CONTRAPTIONS. but soon, soon he will learn how to make his own Rings, more powerful still than those of the puny human. Then we he reign fully, not relying on the Emperor or the enslaved digimon.  
  
Chapter 3 - Falmon  
  
"Like this," said KT, holding out her digivice to a blank computer screen. It was the end of another school day, and she, Jake, Ali and Leviomon were assembled in the computer room. Jake looked sceptical. "How can that thing send us to a whole other dimension?" he scoffed. "Through the computer?" KT blushed. "Yes, actually," she said. "Wait!" said Ali. She had long, blonde hair and pretty eyes. "We can't go yet, Breddy and Paul aren't here. "How about you tell us what these signs mean while we're waiting?" Jake asked her slightly sarcastically. "Since you've somehow gained all this sudden knowledge." KT scowled and showed hers to them both. "See this, on the front? That's the crest of Fortitude. And on the back. is the crest of Knowledge." Still angry at him, she snatched Jake's from him. "Your first crest is that of.resilience. Stubbornness, in other words. hey!" As he poked her in annoyance. "Alright, alright. your other one's Courage." Timidly, Ali held out her own digivice. KT took it gently, almost apologetically. "OK, on the front is. hmm. ah yes, I think it's affection. Not surprisingly, the basic one on the back's reliability." "I see," said Jake, "these represent our, sort of, main characteristics." KT frowned. "I suppose so, but I think they more represent major characteristics deep inside us that we need to find and use." KT said. Jake shrugged in a display of nonchalance, but KT could see a hidden interest. With a crash, the door flew open, and two children burst in. One was a girl with long brown hair who was about KT, Jake and Ali's age; the other was a young boy with dark green, spiky hair. "Breddy! It's about time," said Jake. "I'm sorry, my mum made us take a load of food with us." KT looked hopeful. "But we ate it on the way so you won't have to carry it in the Digital World!" Said Paul cheerfully. KT's face fell. "KT was telling us what our signs - on the digivices - meant," Ali said enthusiastically. "Mine mean Affection and Reliability, hers are. Fortitude and Knowledge, and Jake's mean. something and Courage." "Resilience." Jake said sullenly. Clearly he was still sulking. "Oh, cool!" Said Breddy. "KT, KT, what are mine?" She thrust her digivice into KT's hands. It was white with yellow fixtures. "This one's difficult. I think your main sign means Speed, and the other Love." Breddy looked overjoyed. Jake shook his head in disbelief. Someone tugged at KT's sleeve, and she felt a digivice pressed into her hand. "Tell me mine!" Paul commanded. Jake sighed while Breddy and Ali looked adoringly at the young boy. "OK." KT said with a smile. "This one means Sincerity, and that one on the back means Friendship." Jake rolled his eyes. "OK, KT. Now that that's over with, why don't you show us how to get into this. Digital World?" KT tossed her head and strode past with her nose in the air - she would show him! She bent down and typed in a complicated password which somehow came easily to her fingers. The familiar screen came up, with the black box. She did not even have to think to type in another password. Then she stood and turned to the others. "Hold out your digivice like I told you," she said firmly. They obeyed; all except Jake, who was already standing in the middle, waiting, with his digivice toward the screen. Feeling affronted, as if he had taken away her right to tell him what to do, she stood beside him. Everyone watched the computer. Just as Jake was opening his mouth to say something scornful, the little lightbulb flashed on. The stream of light coming from the computer room was quite spectacular. Several kids from different years ran fearfully to see what was going on, worried that perhaps one of the computers was exploding. But when they arrived, there was no-one there, no smoke - only one computer was on at all, and an older student turned it off without really looking at what was on the screen. The pupils dispersed, looking vaguely disappointed.  
  
Meanwhile, Jake, KT, Leviomon, Ali, Breddy and Paul were lying in a collapsed heap on the ground. Ali picked herself up, shaking. Her mouth opened and closed, but as she stared around her in amazement nothing came out. Breddy stood and laughed in awe, rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Jake rolled over to where KT sat looking smug, and said, "KT?" She looked at him, wide eyed and innocent. "I- I'm sorry I didn't believe you. You were right, all along. And I gotta admit, this is pretty cool." With that, a lot of tension seemed to vanish from her face, revealing a smile of true happiness; but also, Jake noticed, a deep worry creasing her forehead just slightly. "What's wrong?" He asked. Then memory hit him. Several days ago, Siathuri, her older sister, had gone missing. Siathuri was in high school, in the same year as Sora, Joe, Matt and Tai. She and Nabruine, her best friend and Paul's older sister, had simply disappeared from her room one night after school. The police had said the only clue was what looked like some kind of internet game was left running on her laptop. Jake frowned. His first impression of the Gate had been that of an internet site. "Wow, cool! Jake, look, we get new outfits!" Breddy was ecstatic, turning around to see the full extent of her new clothes. They consisted of a lime- green sleeveless top and short shorts of the same colour, with yellow edging. Delicate pink gloves came up her arms and when she twirled her hair was multicoloured with braids. "This helmet's pretty neat, it covers up my hair," admitted Paul, who was now in a white shirt and short-sleeved, baggy overcoat. Jake looked down at himself, his gaze taking in knee-length brown shorts, a black belt, a neatly tucked in yellow T-shirt and a pair of thick gloves with flame patterns. "Hey, come on, you guys! Let's get going! We need to go find your Digieggs right now! I wonder what your digimon'll look like, what do you think? I like your shirt, Jake! I wonder how the others are getting on, too. Hmm. I think Jake's'll be a fiery digimon!" Leviomon, as usual, was not lost for words. KT rose and began walking down the hillside. Breddy and Ali walked behind, chatting and admiring the scenery. Paul trotted on several steps ahead to scout out the new land. Leviomon pattered along in front of KT, nattering on without seeming to really care whether she was listening. Jake walked in silence beside her, and for a minute she was afraid that he was cross with her again; but gradually she felt his hand slip comfortingly around hers and give a reassuring squeeze. Before long, they were talking and laughing as if nothing had ever come between them. The woods, when they entered, were dark; but it was a green darkness, full of leafy light and noises, more pleasant than creepy. Each of them were in fact talking and thinking about the same things: what would their digimon be like? How was it possible for this other world to exist? KT noticed that they were walking along something that was almost a path, a broad strip where the grass had nearly been worn away. She asked Jake about this, and he replied dryly that it was probably all those other Digidestined. Suddenly, they heard a shrill squeal from behind them. "Eeeeeeeek! Help, help! Get them off me!" Jake swerved round to run back, KT hard on his heels. As they reached the other two girls, KT recoiled in revulsion; Jake began to laugh. "How could you laugh at something like this?" Ali cried in outrage. She was busy kneeling beside Breddy, who had evidently fallen, and was peeling off her what looked like a multitude of giant green slugs with staring eyes on stalks. KT wanted to help, but just couldn't bring herself to touch the disgusting creatures. "Those are Numemon," she said. Ali gave her a Look. "Oh yeah, like that'll help. They're terrifying our friend and alerting anyone else in the vicinity that we are here - and you're gonna save us by telling us what they are." Ali had brought up, even if she didn't know it, a vital point - Breddy was in a state of panic, lying on the floor and screaming loud enough to attract many more, far more dangerous creatures, thought KT. At that moment, Paul skidded around the corner, panting. "Quick! Quick! You guys, get off your butts and come look at this!" He glared at Breddy. "Come on, girl, this is no time to lie around and meet the local wildlife!" And he hared back up the track. Jake stared after him. "Wow, for a little kid, that boy's got a sharp tongue and a quick mind," he said in admiration. You mean he's a cheeky beggar, thought KT sullenly - she knew Jake was really right. "Jake, help me get these off her," Ali sighed pleadingly. Jake reluctantly bent over the quivering lump of slugs and plucked one from the girl between finger and thumb. He stared at it thoughtfully, then wrinkled his nose in distaste and threw it several yards away. Leviomon appeared out of no-where and dived into the green mass, babbling happily, and tossing Numemon left and right. With this added help, all the Numemon were soon left watching resentfully from beneath the undergrowth. "Let's go see what Paul's found," said KT. The foursome ran over in the direction the younger boy had taken. Leviomon remained a moment longer to poke his long, sticky tongue out at the remaining Numemon, then scuttled after KT and the others.  
  
It was an enormous clearing in the dark woods. Sunlight beamed down upon them, dazzling them so they could not see. When they could, they still did not move. In the centre of the glade was a huge rock, taller than five Mermons standing on top of one another. Its point was a sharp as a needle, seeming to drive into the fiery ball of the sun. And nearly at that point, almost too high up to see, was a round green splotch. "That's an egg," said Leviomon. "There's two more, one either side. One's yellow, one's pink." "How do we get up there?" KT asked slowly. "You can't fly, Leviomon, not even as Mermon." "Maybe it's through there," Paul said, pointing at the base of the vast structure. There was an impressive entrance, with pillars leading up to it and carvings around. KT didn't like it - she privately thought it looked like a big, dark mouth waiting to swallow them all whole. But Jake was already striding toward it, with Paul jogging to keep up and look around with curiosity. The girls hesitated a moment, but then Ali stepped boldly into the dark entrance. Not wanting to be left on their own, Breddy darted inside and KT was about to follow. But suddenly, she heard a noise. It sounded like a roar, and not very far away. The earth shook with a pounding as of heavy footfalls. KT muffled a scream and ran in after the others.  
  
It was pitch dark inside the rock. KT fearfully felt her way along a straight, broad corridor. A shriek came from up ahead. KT ran on to see what had happened, but found herself tripping over a large, soft object. She landed on top of it with a shout of surprise. The object gave a grunt and shifted beneath her; then KT realised it was Breddy. There was a sound of tapping footsteps coming towards them. "Breddy? KT? You OK?" KT sighed with relief - it was Jake. "Paul and Ali are waiting up ahead. This is ridiculous, we can't go up the entire thing in pitch blackness." Jake said in frustration. KT agreed, Breddy even more so as she picked herself up, feeling bruised and squashed. It turned out that Breddy had tripped over a step, the first in a long flight which they now ascended with Jake's help. "Is that you guys? Thank goodness, we were getting terrified!" Paul's voice called out of the darkness. With some careful manoeuvring using each other's voices and feeling for the walls, floor and friends, they were all eventually seated. "Right," said Jake. "I reckon I've got this fairly figured. Those Digieggs up on top are Breddy's, Paul's and Ali's. This isn't the way to get to them. My egg's sure to be in here somewhere. So, Breddy and Ali take care of Paul. You three are gonna have to climb up the outside of this rock. I'll search the inside with KT." KT could only assume he was using a lot of guesswork based on all the fantasy stories he read, and the colour of the eggs. "There's one fairly major problem," said KT nervously. "When I was still outside, I heard roaring and stamping. It was coming nearer, and did not sound happy." Jake sighed. "OK. KT, take Mermon and try to hold off whatever this new horror is." "But Jake, then you'll have to explore this place on your own, in the dark. At least the monsters outside we can see." KT said. "I won't let you do this, not on your own." "No. You and Leviomon will be needed outside." "Where is Leviomon?" KT asked suddenly. She called his name, despite hissed warnings from her friends about attracting other monsters. But he was not there. "He must still be outside!" KT whispered in horror. Wordlessly, Breddy, Ali and Paul rose. "Good luck, Jake!" KT called desperately behind her as the other three practically swept her off her feet in their hurry to get out. Jake stood in the dark, listening to the last echoes of KT's words, and feeling rather more afraid than he would have admitted.  
  
KT emerged into the light once more. Again, it dazzled her eyes; still, she heard Leviomon's tired voice call out: "Hydro bomb!" There was a brief silence, then a crash as of surf pounding the sands. Something enormous roared in irritation, and loads of tiny voices growled and laughed nastily. As the flashing stars faded from her eyes, KT saw a gigantic shape rearing up and partially blocking the sun. It looked like a green dinosaur with two curved tusks coming out over its shoulders. It was surrounded by small rodents with slitted eyes and gnashing teeth, and - KT noticed with dismay - tails which let them swim. They were amphibious. Leviomon was exhausted. He lay, chest heaving, on the ground, helpless to do anything. KT spotted him and cried out, for Tuskmon was looming over him with one powerful foot raised, ready to bring it down on his delicate body. Just as Tuskmon lowered his foot with crushing force, KT dived recklessly underneath and grabbed Leviomon, hugging him tightly to her and rolling out of harm's way. "Digevolve, Leviomon, you've got to digevolve now!" KT shouted in panic. But Leviomon was too tired, and the best she could do was crouch in a crack in the rock and hope Tuskmon didn't spot her and her digimon.  
  
Meanwhile, Ali, Breddy and Paul had spread out to three corners of the gargantuan rock. Each looked at the other two, sharing in a glance all their fear and discouragement as they turned their gaze up, up until their necks hurt; and they could just about see the tiny specks of colour which were their Digieggs. Then, as one, their eyes hardened with determination, they nodded to wish each other luck, and with a chorus of yells sprang upon the rock surface and began to climb. It was surprisingly easy to climb - all the cracks and fissures made excellent hand- and footholds. Still, it was a painfully slow process as they held on with three limbs, searching for a hold with the other. The bellows of an enraged Tuskmon rolled over them. At one point Paul, curious to see what was going on down below, peered between his legs. It was a terrible sight. They were about a hundred metres up, he estimated, and still climbing. His knees started wobbling as he looked down again. "Paul, don't look down!" Breddy called, noticing the boy. When his face rose, it was as white as a bedsheet. His legs were quivering with terror. "It's all right! Just keep climbing - maybe your digimon will have wings, eh? You never know!" Breddy's voice was getting higher and higher with panic at the state of him. But then, to her relief, he seemed to calm down, and a bit of colour returned to his face. Just as he grabbed a projecting rock and started pulling himself up to it, he said to Breddy; "It's not the height that was worrying me. We'd better move a little faster, I think." "Why.?" Breddy began, but he was already several footholds up when he answered. "We've got trouble on our heels!" Breddy looked down hurriedly, and screamed. A swarm of seething brown bodies was scrabbling rapidly up the rock at twice the speed the humans were going at. They were Gizamon, with lolling tongues and needle-sharp teeth. Evidently Ali, too, had noticed them, because there came a voice from Breddy's other side: "Breddy, don't panic! Come on, they're just like brown rabbits." "Yeah, brown rabbits with huge fangs which are going to push us off this horrid rock!" Shrieked Breddy. But she got the message, and her movements became quicker and more strenuous as she strained to get further away from the monsters.  
  
Tuskmon was furious. Three of his quarry were far too high up for him to reach, and he had lost the other one, with the annoying blue lizard. He roared in frustration, and lashed his thick tail against the side of the rock. It shuddered, and a shower of debris rained down into his face, further enraging him. But then, he heard a far more satisfying noise: the sound of several human screams. Pleased, he though hard for a few moments, his simple brain associating the screams with the rock shaking - if slowly. Having figured this out, he looked back at, then punched the rock. Small cracks spread out from where his fist had landed, and some larger rocks fell down. This time, though, he was ready, and stepped nimbly out of the way. He growled with evil pleasure as more screams sounded. Then, an idea finally occurred to him. He slowly, casually stomped back a few paces, and lowered his head, leaving the two, brightly coloured tusks driving straight out and forwards.  
  
With a shout of triumph, Paul's fingers finally found a ledge that went on further than he could reach. With a last effort, he pulled himself up by his arms, and sprawled on the flat surface in relief. A snarl from below reminded him of the peril he and the others were in, and he clambered wearily to his feet. But there was no further to go: in front of his very eyes was a large, green egg with pale designs on. The front one, slightly at an angle, he recognised as Sincerity; even though he could not see more than a thin line of the reverse, he knew would be Friendship. Hardly daring to breathe, he let both hands rest upon the Digiegg. Summoning his courage - though his curiosity did most of the work - he gripped the egg more firmly and tugged with all his might. It seemed stuck. He pulled and pulled at it, but it would not budge. A horrible sensation crept over him - what if he was not to have a digimon after all? With more determination than ever, he heaved with all his strength. The egg, suddenly, was not wedged at all. With a cry of surprise and fear, he found himself falling backwards, reaching helplessly for the ledge, for some sort of grip. but there was only the air rushing in his ears, faster and faster, and a pillar of green light shining brightly into the sky, and his sister's voice screaming his name. And then, just as he was sure he was about to hit the ground, something warm and fluffy hit his back instead, levelling out his descent into a smooth curve, and finally depositing him gently on the grass. Stunned, he looked around; though he had a feeling of what to expect. Sure enough, a digimon stood there. It had long, dark green fur - the same colour as his own hair, he noticed ironically - light green paws and ear- and tail-tips, and its ears and tail themselves were simply enormous. With a bound, it leaped briefly into the air, showing off how it could glide using these; then alighted and gazed in fascination at Paul with twinkling eyes like black buttons in all that fur. "Hi" it said, "I'm Mossmon."  
  
Breddy had witnessed Paul's fall with a screech of fear and pity - not just fear for him, but also for herself, having seen what could happen. Now she gazed in wonderment at the small green animal that had saved his life, far below. "Breddy! Come on, hurry!" Ali's voice cried in agitation. She was many metres above Breddy, and with mounting panic Breddy looked down closer to hand. The Gizamon were close enough for her to see their beady black eyes and rotting little teeth, and she whimpered in terror. Ali broke through to her once more with a desperate shout. Breddy looked up, pale-faced and wide- eyed, and began to climb with renewed vigour. Ali had reached the top, but her egg sat untouched in the rock face, such was her thoughts for her friend. Actually, had she thought a little harder, a digimon might have been able to fend off the Gizamon; but right now she was busy encouraging and bullying Breddy alternatively. "Come on, you're nearly there. just another few steps, what are you hanging about for, you lazy. person!" Ali was not much good at insults. Suddenly, Breddy screamed. One of the leading Gizamon had made a huge leap to land on her foot, and was about to sink its teeth in when she shook her leg and sent it howling out to fall to its death. Three more snarled their vengeance and recklessly attempted the jump, their spiky, fish-like tails thrashing the air madly to propel them on. One didn't quite make it, bouncing off the rock and falling to join the first; but Breddy found to her dismay that the other two had grabbed a leg each, and their claws dug in painfully. They were much heavier than they looked, and she knew that she could not bear their weight and hers. Sobbing, she realised she was not going to reach the top, which now seemed so very far away. Then, like a flash of lightening, a hand reached down all that distance and grabbed her weakening arm. Another came to hold her tightly, and then Ali's grim face appeared over the edge. "BreddygetyourbumuphererightnowpleaseIcantholdyou muchlonger!" She gasped in one frantic breath. Breddy scrabbled at the rock, climbing quite literally for her life. Inch by inch, she gained height and got that little bit further, wailing as the Gizamon bit savagely into her legs but never letting go to swat them off. For one, final instant she despaired as Ali's hand let go of her wrist, waiting for the ground to pound the life out of her, clenching her eyes tight shut. but nothing happened except the Gizamon's growling getting closer. She opened one eye, and was just in time to see Ali drop the two Gizamon that had clung to her, over the edge with as much frankness as if she was simply taking out the trash. She looked around, and was startled and immensely relieved to find herself on a ledge, with two eggs in front of her. One was white with yellow designs - those of Speed and Love. The other was purple, with pink designs; not surprisingly, of Affection and Reliability. Shakily, Breddy got to her feet. Ali was standing there, and gave her a nervous grin and a pat on the back. Both of them took a deep breath to calm their nerves, then a snarl from behind reminded them that the danger was not over yet. As one, they stepped forward and seized hold of the eggs.  
  
"KT! We gotta run, he's gonna charge! Yelled Leviomon. KT was feeling horribly trapped - if she ran out, Tuskmon might see and attack her; if she stayed, she might be crushed when he charged, if the rock pillar fell. She looked down at the trusting eyes of her reptilian digimon, and then looked at the opening to Tuskmon and her friends. Just then, from outside there came another tremendous roar. KT, fearing it to be Tuskmon charging for the rock, took her chances and scurried out, running as fast as she could. Leviomon slithered beside her. Suddenly, he stopped. "Look! It's Jake!" He cried. KT spun round, flooded with joy. Then this changed to awe as she beheld the creature that had made that final roar. She was beautiful, standing tall and proud on two legs. Over short, tawny fur she wore a gold breastplate and a prehistoric-style loincloth. Her face was similar to that of a lion, the mane forming long, wavy hair beneath a narrow, stylised metal face-mask, not large or heavy enough to be called a helmet. Purple patterns and designs snaked their way up both wrists, and played over her face. She wore heavy white boots with little golden wings; a reflection of the elegant, graceful white wings which cascaded from her shoulders. In her hand she held a long staff with a glowing ball inside pieces of wood at the top. This she pointed at Tuskmon, taken aback and snarling in fury as she had interrupted his charge. "Pure Ray!" She cried in a voice that was deep and powerful. A beam of bright light blasted from the end of her staff and hit Tuskmon full on, sending him flying head over heels into a solid treetrunk, which promptly snapped under the force. His tail twitched, sending several avidly watching Numemon squelching through the air; his eyelid flickered, then closed. "Oramon, is he. dead?" Jake's voice, tiny by comparison, said in the ensuing silence. The regal feline bent to sniff the dinosaur. "No," she said, shaking her head, "but he has learned his lesson, and will not trouble us again." Her long, whiplike tail flicked before diminishing with the rest of her to become a waist-high, yellow creature with red, yellow and orange spikes around her head and in place of a tail, and three black claws on each wrist to serve as fingers. Falmon, thought KT. She smiled wearily at Jake and KT before rising onto two legs from where she had fallen and tottering over to hug Jake. Overcome with the emotion of it, Leviomon dashed up and hugged KT from behind, hitting her in the back of the knees in his enthusiasm and knocking her over. She groaned, then seeing the love in his dancing eyes immediately forgave him. Suddenly, their attention was caught by two bright pillars of light, pink and yellow, which rose up high into the heavens without fading. Both recognised light rays like this, and their happy glances met as they raced over to the rock. They skidded to a halt, Leviomon narrowly avoiding crashing into KT again, and gazed up to the pinnacle of the rocky spire. "Hey!" A shout came down to their ears, of two voices. Even with both girls evidently yelling in unison, Jake and KT could barely hear them. Jake's brow creased in a frown - there was one problem still to overcome. How were they to get down? A twig snapped behind them, and all four friends whipped round in alarm. But no monster stood there; only Paul, with a smile on his face and a moss heap in his arms. "Wotcha got there, Paul?" Jake asked curiously. Suddenly, the heap exploded in his face. Jake fell back, caught completely off his guard; KT stepped back too, but both recovered themselves when they saw Paul laughing fit to bust. "Not funny," Jake growled. Now he could see the long ears and tail, the pale paws, the bright black eyes. "Oh yeah, don't worry about Breddy and Ali," said Paul casually. The other two stood flabbergasted at this proposition, but Falmon explained. "Mossmon's gonna fetch them down by gliding like a hang-glide", she said. Sure enough, Mossmon was soon no more than a green splodge in the high distance. This remained tiny for about a minute, then began to grow again. Finally he alighted, Breddy having let go of him as soon as her feet touched the ground. A purple digimon clung to her fearfully, gazing around with large green eyes before dropping onto four stubby legs with relief. "At last!" she said. "I know I might one day be able to fly, but that height was just way over the top!" She was reminiscent of a light purple cat with three tails and yellow markings. Two tiny, decorative but useless pink wings sprouted from her shoulder blades. "This is Kittamon! Isn't she gorgeous?" Breddy's eyes were shining dreamily as she looked at her digimon. At that moment, Mossmon deposited Ali, who promptly gathered everyone round in a group hug. A pink digimon with long legs and ears and purple patches on its back and eyes, laughed from its position on her back and jumped down to join the others. "Hi, I'm Aramon," she said cheerfully. She had a stubby creamy mane and long tail of the same colour, and her feet, though paws, were black as hooves. KT surveyed the gang and their digimon with wide-eyed delight. At last they were complete! "We're all together now. But this isn't over, far from it!" Jake said emphatically. "We've got a score to settle here, and if the others want to run around after their friend they're more than welcome to. I say we tackle this Dark Lord now, before any more damage is done!" They all nodded in agreement. "Hadn't we better get back first?" Breddy asked. Everyone looked at each other in sudden shock. "Can. anyone remember the way?" Paul asked. They looked at the woods, all as dark and gloomy as any forest - nothing looked familiar. "I bet it's that Dark Lord fiddling with things again!" KT cried angrily. "That does it! He's not going to let us go home, so we'll just have to remain here until we defeat him!" 


	5. Chapter 4

In the deep, deep blackness, the blackness of the void, 'neath the parched, thirsting lands where no thing remains free. the Dark Lord grew impatient. The Evil Emperor that was once again had caught him many digimon, and the two irritating humans and their digimon awaited Dark Rings with them - but the human was taking too long over making new Rings. THE DARK LORD WANTS MORE SLAVES NOW! He was disgusted with this incompetent beast of the human race. But his black heart flooded with evil anticipation as he viewed his pride and joy, his brainchild. or rather, brainchild-to-be. His future ultimate weapon. the beast of the sea.  
  
Chapter 4 - The Discovery  
  
Tai woke up to a growling stomach. He groaned, and Agumon looked at him sympathetically. Matt was already awake, sitting on the cliff edge and conversing with Gabumon in a low voice. Since they had been unable to use the Digiport, the pair had decided to look for another one. They had wandered around in circles until midnight, when Agumon suggested they sleep up here because of its good vantage point. Tai said he didn't think a room with a view was necessary, thank you; but Gabumon explained that if any enemies - or friends - came looking for them, whoever was on watch would see them long before they arrived. Funnily enough, although they had gotten severely lost when looking for a way home, they found their way up to an ideal camp easily enough. However, despite arousing their suspicion, the night seemed to have passed peacefully. "Morning, guys," Tai greeted his friends. Gabumon looked mournfully up at him. "What's the matter, Gabumon?" he asked in concern. "Need. food." the digimon said. All four burst out laughing. But Gabumon's remark seemed to have reminded Agumon of something. "Gabumon," he said excitedly, "The. others must have food, mustn't they? Otherwise they would be dead by now - I certainly wouldn't be able to last five days without eating!" "I guess it is five now." Gabumon began ponderously, then noticed the boys watching them curiously. "Who on earth are you two talking about? Have you made some friends?" Both creatures lowered their heads. "Yes," Tai caught the muffled answer. Sudden realisation hit him, and he reeled backwards in disgust. "Eeewww! I didn't know you went in for that kind of stuff!" Matt scrunched up his face in distaste. "Yeah, well, it's not as if you've never looked at one of the others - or any girl, for that matter - in a certain disgusting fashion!" Agumon rallied angrily. There was a long, embarrassed silence. Finally, Tai sighed, laughed, and started walking slowly off. "Come on. We'd better get going. You've shared enough of our food; now we're going to try some digimon food!" he said. Matt followed him eagerly, and both digimon sprung after - but not before they shared a secret, amused glance. Their partners still didn't know the truth of the matter - but it could wait. For now, they were enjoying the secret joke.  
  
"This is stupid," Tai burst out angrily around mid-afternoon. "I've heard of people walking round in circles, everything being familiar; but I never thought of this!" Matt shook his head glumly. They had walked until mid- morning, but had been forced to turn back by instinct - none of the area was familiar, the trees were bare and scraggy, the land was dry and cracked. But even though they had turned around and walked straight back in the direction they had come for nearly five hours, growing increasingly tired and hungry, the landscape had not changed at all. Angrily, Tai looked around. The horizon was brown and flat from every angle, and although the sky was dark with clouds it did not look as though rain had visited this place for years. No sign of life added a decidedly creepy effect - not even carrion digimon birds soared overhead. Agumon shivered. "I don't like this," he admitted, "but I think there doesn't look to be any way the Dark Lord is going to let us back home." There was a depressed silence as they all stood in a circle. Then Gabumon spoke. "What if we pretended to be really angry at him? You know, walk right into the darkness? Then he'll be assured that we're coming straight into his "trap". Then we can try to find the other two - Agumon and I can't digivolve unless we get some food, and we need some help anyway." "Worse than that, we wouldn't be able to actually defeat him with all the wild digimon left. We need all of the Digidestined and all the wild digimon just to penetrate whatever defences he's got in the form of evil digimon." Matt said. A determined expression crossed Tai's face. "Well then, it looks like we have no choice. We must head straight for whatever direction feels the most evil." It was replaced by a look of pain and sorrow. "Besides, I'm really getting hungry!"  
  
Each of them knew easily which way to go - the darkness flowed from it like a hurricane of evil. At first, they talked as they walked; this gradually lapsed into a still, deathly quiet. Suddenly, as if the endless desert they walked on had been whipped out from under their feet, they found themselves in a dark forest. They stopped, and Gabumon cried out. "So there was no desert! That was just an illusion!" "But then if it's been taken away, that must mean." Tai said slowly as realisation hit them all. They had come to their goal sooner than they had expected. The gloomy atmosphere was rudely interrupted by a loud cry of fright and pain. It was close by and female -Tai and Agumon clenched their fists in anger and Gabumon ran forward; but Matt caught him by the scruff of the skin he wore. "Ssssh!" He hissed. Cautiously, the four crept on together, moving on hands and knees through scratchy bushes and sharp thorns. A crash stopped them in their tracks, for it came from an area only metres ahead. Carefully, Tai and Matt parted a window in the solid mass of undergrowth.  
  
The forest abruptly ended. Lying in the centre of a whirl of images and landscapes, all confused but all dry and evil, was the remains of a great fortress. It had belonged to the Evil Emperor, but had been destroyed thoroughly - or so they had thought. Now, several vast openings leading underground were visible. Bare sand leaked onto deep water, which suddenly ended at black-streaked rock. A flock of Devidramon circled overhead, their warning roars barely audible. But the thing that drew the foursome's attention was a battle, going on all over the wreckage of the fortress. Ogremon lunged forward at a small, red-brown digimon, which darted out of the way just in time. "Lyomon!" Gabumon said softly. Leomon slashed the air with razor claws and roared fearsomely. On both Ogremon and Leomon Dark Rings were clearly visible. Lyomon skidded around and cried desperately, "Flamethrower!" A thin trickle of fire dripped sadly from her mouth. The digimon giants laughed, and Ogremon launched himself at her again. Panting heavily, she glared at him, too tired to run any more. Ogremon grunted - Tai noticed burning slash marks on the side of his face. "Still wanna fight?" Lyomon was breathing too heavily to answer, or just couldn't be bothered; she lifted her lip in a half-hearted snarl, baring long fangs briefly. Ogremon laughed and drew back his arm, holding the club. Lyomon had hung her head, and did not notice the thick weapon until it hit her in the side and sent her flying. She landed on her side near where Tai and Matt were hiding. Leomon picked her up bodily and carried her by the scruff down one underground entrance. The boys let the prickly bush fall back into place. "That's it, we have got to get back home." Matt said. Tai looked awkward - he clearly didn't like the idea of deserting Lyomon and whatever others needed their help. "The Dark Lord won't let us," Agumon said, shaking his head. A troubled look passed between him and Gabumon. Tai sighed. "Look, you two, what's up? There's something you're not telling us about this." The digimon turned to them. "OK," said Agumon, "We'll tell you. Lyomon and Megmon, they have friends." Tai grinned. "Friends as in, a couple of digimon somewhere around here?" Gabumon looked at him witheringly. "No," the fur-skinned reptile said bluntly, "friends as in human partners. Their names are Nabruine and Siathuri." "Or as they prefer to be known, Nabu and Thir." Agumon added. Tai and Matt stared at them. "Nabu and Thir? Here? With digimon?" Matt asked incredulously. Neither of them seemed Digidestined material - both wore a lot of black, Thir sporting a spiked dog-collar and flared jeans as well. But then, it linked up with their mysterious disappearance three days ago. and even before then, they had been seen with very strange stuffed animals. Matt cursed. Of course, how could he have been so stupid? He had actually seen Lyomon in Thir's arms one time at school, and had forgotten about it! "But what exactly are they doing here?" Tai asked. Gabumon explained. "They went on a mission deep underground to try to free the digimon that the Dark Lord keeps locked up waiting for Dark Rings. The Evil Emperor and him are working on a new, more powerful design; which is why they haven't used any on digimon for so long. But Thir, Nabu and Megmon got caught in the act. Lyomon ran away - she said she felt awful about it, that was when we were about to try and get through the Gate yesterday." There was a stupefied silence. "So what you're saying is that if we want food, which they presumably have, we have to go down there and rescue them?" Tai asked slowly. Agumon and Gabumon nodded happily. Tai sighed despairingly - he would have preferred by far just to sit back on that hilltop until someone came and rescued them, but there they were. It was obvious that they had no choice - the digimon needed food to fight, and the only way to get it was to free the girls. "We'll rest here for a while, just until dusk," he decided. "Then we'd better get this done."  
  
The setting of the sun was noticeable only by the darkening of the nearly black clouds which swirled overhead. The foursome had made themselves as comfortable as they could in a nest of prickles and roots, and had dozed fitfully for a few hours. Now they were stiff and aching all over, and desperate for food. Together, they peeled aside once again the scrubby bushes, and revealed the dark, forbidding entrance surrounded by pillars of stone. Just as Tai stepped out towards it, there was a bellow from inside. Hurriedly, he leaped for the safety of the shrubbery - and just in time. Ogremon was on the rampage again, and he sprang forth from the shadows to stroll casually past the boys, down a path which they could not see but which clearly existed by the ease with which the digimon travelled. In one huge, deformed fist he dragged a bundle of chains, but still no Dark Rings, Tai noticed with relief. They waited until he was out of sight and earshot, then Matt said quietly, "OK, so that entrance is too dangerous. How about there?" And he pointed to a dark overhang, shrouded by weeds and cruel, sharp twigs. Agumon bounded out before anyone could stop him, and peered into it. They waited with bated breath. Then at last he beckoned cheerfully to them. On Tai's count of three, they ran to the opening together and crawled in. It was dark and slimy inside. Agumon was the first in, and Gabumon the last. "Urrgh!" Tai complained as his hand squelched into a pool of grime. "Watch out, it gets a bit. Ahh!" Agumon's voice cried out ahead of them. "Agumon, what is it?" Tai shouted, slithered forward on his belly. He pushed off from the smooth sides of the tunnel to try and gain speed and catch up with his digimon - it worked surprisingly well. "Ow!" His head slammed into something in the dark, but he kept on moving, and gathering speed. "Tai, slow down!" The thing yelled. It was Agumon. Too late, Tai realised they were sliding head-first down a steep, slippery tunnel, with no clue as to where it would end. At the entrance to the cave, Matt and Gabumon crouched fearfully, listening to their companion's screams as they rocketed down, growing fainter and fainter. In the barely existent light seeping in from outside, Matt saw Gabumon's face turn to him. "You're right," he said, "there's nothing else for it. But I'm pretty sure there's at least five better ways to get there." And he grabbed Gabumon tightly around the waist and threw himself sidelong down the slope. "Tai, I'm gonna kill yooooouuuuu." His voice echoed down after the other two. Before long, though, they had passed completely out of hearing, and the cave entrance seemed to fade once more into the background.  
  
"Oof!" Tai said as the breath was knocked out of him. He turned his face sideways to avoid squashing it into Agumon's rear any longer, and breathed deeply. "Ooowww." he said. He had landed flat on his stomach, and was regretting it. ".aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!" Two voices wailed down from the tunnel. Tai groaned. "Oh no." WHUMPH!  
  
They were in a large tunnel, deep underground, Tai thought several minutes later. Their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and as they walked along he could see on either side of him rows of thick, metal bars. Hulking shapes loomed inside, some only as high as his ankle, some twice as tall as he was. Occasional eyes glowed out from behind the bars, and they always hurried past those. "This must be where the Dark Lord keeps his digimon," Gabumon whispered. The same thought ran through all of their heads - were the digimon surrounding them waiting for Dark Rings, or were they already slaves of the Dark Lord, hungering to get at them and rip them to pieces. "Gabumon?" A high, rasping voice called out of the darkness. They stood stock still, their hearts beating - what new enemy was this? "Agumon, is that you?" another voice asked. This one was squeaky and almost certainly belonged to a cute digimon - a voice like that had to. With this, Agumon and Gabumon ran forward. "Lyomon!" "Megmon!" The boys could vaguely see them in the dark, reaching through the bars and nuzzling against them. Then another voice, one they felt they knew from somewhere, called out with interest. "Lyomon, who's this? I didn't know you had a friend." "That's disgusting, Megmon, stop it!" A fourth new voice rang out. Unable to restrain their curiosity any longer, the boys stepped forward to see the occupants. "Tai?? Matt??" The first voice said in disbelief. It belonged to a girl with long, blonde hair streaked with black dye, and a bright red fringe. She stood up, and they saw a black T-shirt, fingerless gloves, jeans and a red neck-tie. "Thir! So you two really are here!" Matt said. Sure enough, sitting lazily next-door was Nabu, a girl with short black hair, black trousers, a baggy navy sweatshirt and a black cap worn backwards. Tai was suddenly very aware of his school uniform. Both of them were staring wide-eyed at Tai and Matt. "All right, all right, so now you all know the others exist." Lyomon's voice reminded Tai somehow of his sister's digimon, Gatomon. "Now come on, hurry up and let us out so we can finish what we came here to do." "Whoa, wait a minute," Tai stopped her. "That's suicide. You can't just wander in and free everything. You have to plan it first." "Yeah, and besides, we're starving here!" Matt whined. Not surprisingly, everyone agreed. "So, um. how does this work?" Agumon asked. Thir turned around and held her hand through the bars to Nabu, who produced from her pocket something metallic and gave it to Thir. Then Megmon arose. She stood on two legs, and looked a little like a pale green lizard, with designs on her face and a wavy patch down her back, large front claws and two long, straggly ears. "First you have to press these buttons," she said. Nabu, once prompted, came and lifted her high up; she reached through and tapped two buttons above her head. Tai and Matt jumped to one side as two small pillars rose from the centre of the floor. "Now use this key!" Lyomon said, tossing them the piece of metal. Tai caught it with the expertise of a good soccer-player, and saw immediately the hole in the pillar where it fitted. He slotted it in, and heard a smooth, gentle scraping sound behind him. The bars lifted, and the girls and their digimon jumped clear with relief. "Now we just have to get out," Matt groaned. As one they looked at the gaping, slimy hole which (they saw now) was cleverly hidden behind a mound of chains and broken Rings. Agumon sighed, and took the lead again. "At least now we don't have to try and crawl up there with all hell chasing after us," Nabu said gloomily. Slowly, they trudged down the dark passageway, carefully avoiding the piercing eyes of the other caged digimon. "Now you see why we have to free them," said Thir passionately, gesturing to the damp on the walls, the unhappy or fierce expressions of the creatures, the black darkness. Matt nodded slightly, but Tai shook his head in bewilderment. "Girls," They all heard him mutter scornfully. Nabu gave him a playful shove, and Agumon only just caught him before he hit the filthy floor. "So who's gonna go first?" Lyomon was sitting - she could not stand with the position of her huge forepaws (her body structure was similar to Gomamon's) - by the dripping entrance. No-one stepped forward. "No way am I going," Nabu said bluntly. "Uh-uh." Matt shook his head, and Gabumon backed away from the opening. Nabu yanked Megmon back from where her curiosity had led her - nearly entirely up the tunnel. Megmon laughed in delight as she slid down backwards. "All right, looks like it's me again," Tai sighed. "I'm right beside you," Agumon reassured him. The climb was almost unbearable. They only managed it because of all four digimon's strong, huge front claws, which they dug in to pull them and their partners up. Finally, though, they made one last heave each, one last stumbling run, and collapsed in the shelter of the spiky, bare undergrowth.  
  
"Now doing that every day would keep us all fit," Megmon said brightly as she peeled lumps of slime off herself. The others all turned and glared at her, panting too heavily to say anything. Put off, she stuck out her tongue childishly at them, and chuckled. Too exhausted to reprimand her, Nabu flopped back, barely noticing that she had done so right up against Tai. No watch was posted - they were all too tired, and besides it did not look - or smell, affirmed Lyomon - like anyone had been here recently except themselves. They were all asleep, huddled together for comfort and warmth, in minutes. 


	6. Chapter 5

In the deep, deep blackness, the blackness of the void, 'neath the parched, thirsting lands where no thing remains free. the dark presence flowed through the pitch-black corridors. The Dark Lord was impressed - through torturing this frustratingly slow of Evil Emperors, he had inspired him to create a new kind of Dark Ring, one that showed much promise. a hiss of rage! Where were they, those which he had been about to try it on? His screech of anger echoed through the chill halls, putting dread into every being's quailing heart. Well, at least he had sent the human into the other world to deal with the more tiresome of the Digidestined. Ahh, to think that both worlds were each covered with his future slaves. and he ultimate ruler over them all.  
  
Chapter 5 - Enslavery worldwide  
  
"I so do not like this," Yolei moaned for the umpteenth time. Hawkmon sighed with exaggerated patience. "None of us do, Yolei," he said, "but the fate of the Digital World is at stake here." "Yolei speaks the truth, though." Cody spoke up unexpectedly. "That doesn't make what we're doing right, not by a long way." They all walked on in uncomfortable silence. It was night, and a pale moon shone down on their city, illuminating it faintly with a colourless shadow effect. Shivering, Cody and Armadillomon drew closer together, almost bumping into one another as they sought comfort. Patamon cowered fearfully into TK's neck from his perch on his shoulder. There was a growing, unspoken sense of unease among them. For this reason they were incredibly relieved to finally turn a corner and find the block of flats where Ken lived. Not wanting to be left outside alone, they all somehow managed to squeeze into one elevator, barely able to breathe as it slowly ascended. Floor after floor passed by. Gatomon screeched as someone trod on her tail; they all winced, hoping that not too many people had been woken up. After what seemed like an eternity, the metal doors slid smoothly open, and they practically fell out onto the landing. "This is it," said Davis quietly. He was standing outside a door with a beaten-up number hanging lopsidedly from it. The others picked up their digimon, resuming the stuffed animal act for a short while, and stood behind him. He took one last deep breath, slowly raised his finger.  
  
Brrrring! "Oh, that's the doorbell! I wonder, who could be calling at this time of night? Perhaps it's Ken back at last, maybe he's forgotten his key again." Ken's mother, a pleasant but absent-minded woman, trotted to the door and opened it cautiously. "Ah yes, you're Ken's friends, aren't you? Is Ken with you?" "No, I'm afraid not. Is he not there? He asked us to come meet him at his house tonight." Davis lied. "Well then, you'd better come in, hadn't you?" She said brightly, just as they'd known she would. "Here, I baked some cookies today." and she proffered a tin of freshly baked home-made chocolate chip cookies. Feeling dreadful, the gang stepped inside and took a cookie to nibble. "If he's in here at all, he'll be in his room; but I haven't heard a sound from there for simply ages, d'you think he's asleep? I do hope he hasn't gone out without telling me - and at this hour, too!" They left her twittering on absent-mindedly and trudged down the hall to Ken's bedroom. "Hey, these are nice cookies!" Yolei said in delight. The others all turned to glare at her. "What, so just because we're saving the world, we're not allowed to enjoy good food?" She said in accusation. Kari could not help but smile slightly. Still, the message was clear, and so Yolei munched on without further comment. In gloomy silence, none knowing quite what to say, they shut the door. Kari, Yolei and TK sat on the perfectly-made bed, feeling awkward even to make such dents and creases in it; Cody sat in his accustomed position in the computer chair, even though they all knew not to touch the computer. Through that screen, Ken would be coming, the Evil Emperor - and when he did, their digimon would digevolve and break his Dark Ring. At least, that's how the plan went.  
  
"OK guys, I have to go to my evening classes now - have fun!" Ken's mum's voice rang out from the kitchen. They shouted back as cheery an agreement as possible, then waited quietly until they heard the door slam. For about a minute, they all sat expectantly, waiting. then sure enough, footsteps approached down the hall. Yolei sighed, rose, and went to the front door. Just as she arrived the doorbell rang. "Oops, forgot my keys!" They heard the scatty but happy woman say to Yolei, who muttered a friendly comment before shutting the door delicately behind her. Everyone let out a deep breath that they never knew they had been holding. "Oooo.kaayyy." Said TK. "Now she's gone, Ken could arrive any second. We need to be prepared." "Um.guys?" Veemon spoke up. "I think I've just spotted a flaw in our plan." They all turned to him, very slowly, making their meaning quite clear. The irrepressible digimon grinned broadly. "Hey-hey! I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is, it isn't my fault none of you spotted this!" He laughed. "Veemon, just tell us, now!" Davis almost shouted. "It's really simple, actually. The thing is, we all have to squash up a bit to sit comfortably in this room, don't we?" The others nodded in mute agreement. Veemon raised his eyebrows. "Oooohhh." Davis said, realisation hitting him at last. "Uh-oh," said Patamon and Gatomon in unison. "How on this darned earth 'm I gonna fit in here once I digivolve?" Armadillomon was the last to figure it out.  
  
But just then, before any of them could think up an answer, they heard the most terrifying sound that they could have heard. From through the bedroom door and down the hallway, there was the click of a latch and the slight squeak of a door. Everyone held their breath, not daring to move. Booted feet walked slowly, casually towards the room. They were followed by a strange, scuttling sound. Then there was silence. Suddenly, the door flew open. Ken stood framed in the doorway in all his evil splendour, Wormmon peering around his legs. Kari cried out - she was nearest the door - Gatomon leaping to her side in a defensive stance. The Evil Emperor's eyes widened in surprise and anger. "You!" He shouted at them. The gang sprang to their feet, Davis virtually nose-to-nose with Ken. Yolei anxiously shouldered her way through to the front, Hawkmon hanging grimly on to her shoulder. "I. I wasn't expecting." The evil boy seemed confused, almost disorientated. The Digidestined stared at him in puzzlement. He had never, ever shown confusion. "No!" He suddenly turned his face up to scream at the ceiling. "No, I won't fight them!" His eyes scrunched up with the effort of denial, and they noticed thin rivulets of blood running over his ankles from where Wormmon's claws dug in, whether to help Ken or himself or possibly both. "Veemon, go for the throat!" Davis suddenly shouted in the turmoil. His digimon looked at him in bafflement, before shrugging and trusting his partner. With one great leap, claws outstretched, he bounded onto Ken's head and dug in fiery claws beneath his jaw. Davis heard Veemon's yelp of surprise before the digimon was tossed off the Evil Emperor, landing in a heap on the soft bed. "What's with the ring around his neck?" Veemon called as he righted himself. "It's got some kind of jewels or studs stuck in it all around - they hurt me even through my flames!" Fearfully, Davis looked back at Ken, who had been reduced to scrabbling on the floor, oblivious to all else except his determination to overcome whatever dark power was inside him. And then, all was calm. For a second.  
  
Pain seized Ken, seized him with an iron grip so firm he could not resist it. Beside him, Wormmon was in a similar state. Dark Rings were affixed to both of their necks; now the black stones in each started to deepen, to do the opposite of glowing (as Davis thought afterwards). The boy and his digimon were each caught up a whirling tornado of darkness, bringing them closer and closer together.  
  
The others watched incredulously as Wormmon entered the state of Digivolution, and Ken somehow entered with him. Yolei and Kari winced as Ken screamed in agony, as finally both of them were brought together, and the bodies seemed to just flow straight on into one another. "It's a new form of Digivolution", Cody whispered to himself, though the others all heard him. Ken was growing, his clothes replaced by Stingmon's black armour. His flesh turned green, his body buglike, until all that was left was a large, black bug. His head was framed by a mass of purple hair; lightening patterns around his eyes showed where the dark glasses had been previously. His legs bent forwards, and his head almost seemed like a helmet, covering a black yet human-shaped face beneath, of which only parts around the eyes and jawline showed. His eyes were red and unnervingly human. "What is that thing?" TK cried. For once, no-one had an answer. Then the creature provided one. "Sectryomon!" It screamed. The monster towered over them, screeching its fury and glaring at them with glowing red eyes. For a moment, they all just stood there, overawed and terrified by the might of it; but then Yolei was the first to snap out of the trance. "Ken!" She cried, and Cody was suspicious to note a tone of desperation and pity in her voice. Davis shook himself, angry at letting down his attention, and immediately began thinking hard on how to beat this thing without digivolving. "OK, we have to break that dark ring somehow!" He called to the others. "How?" Kari shouted at him. "Veemon couldn't even scratch it!" "Perhaps if we all attack at once!" Davis said the milisecond the idea came to him. "On my count!" Yolei wailed as Sectryomon shot a ball of green, liquid flame at her; Hawkmon leaped in front of her and created a bubble around both of them, of swirling flames and pinks. The acidic-looking fire rushed all around them, but passed them over unharmed. "One!" Shouted Davis. Patamon led TK, Gatomon and Kari into position on one side of the insectile creature. "Two!" Armadillomon rolled straight into another of Sectryomon's attacks, an armoured ball protected securely by his shell, to deflect it from Cody, Yolei and Hawkmon as they ran around to the other side and tensed up. "Three!" Yelled Davis at the top of his lungs. And with that, chaos erupted.  
  
As one, everyone, humans and digimon alike, leapt for the dark ring. The children used fists, kicks or the sheer force of their body weight; the digimon used claws, teeth, armour or an individual attack aimed precisely. And at the exact same time, they learned that Sectryomon had just as much intelligence as he had before he digevolved. For even as they dived for him, surrounding him with nowhere left to run to, he pushed upwards with all the force he could gather in his legs, crashing head first through the ceiling. For the occupants of the floor above, it was like a miniature explosion. Plaster and wood erupted from the floor, along with a sleek black head followed by a vaguely humanoid body. At the moment, though, both its legs and arms were pinned firmly to its sides for ease, making it appear as a black and green torpedo. Sectryomon was angry, and he did not know why. This only served to fuel his fury, and he screeched at the world as he blew through the flying debris caused by the ruined ceiling/ floor. His manic red eyes searched the room, overlooking shredded furniture and terrified humans cowering in every available corner. Finally, they sighted on his target - a huge picture window, designed for its view of the city, especially of the park. With another deafening scream, he launched himself forward, not feeling the glass shatter everywhere, splintering into the gaps in his armour, scratching the smooth blackness, tinkling on the street far below. Free at last! The creature spread vast wings, like those of a dragonfly blown way out of proportion and encased in black metal, and roared out a challenge to the world.  
  
Back in the bedroom, Davis shook his head groggily. "Urgh." He said. There was a pounding in his skull, which was not helped by the amount of noise going on around him. By the sound of it, the gang were having a blazing row. "Davis, please get them to quieten down!" Veemon shouted urgently in his ear. He had to shout to make himself heard, even right next to his partner. Davis glared around the room - it was dark, and a chill breeze was flowing through the gaping hole in the ceiling. Carefully he stood up, brushing off pieces of hardboard, flakes of paint and splinters. As he did so, a cloud of powdered plaster rose about him, making everyone stop shouting and cough, himself included. Once the dust had settled, he shook himself angrily - he looked like a ghost for a moment - and said quietly, "What is going on here?" "It's a little disagreement over what happens now." Veemon had evidently decided to be self-elected spokesman. "Kari and Yolei want to chase Sectryomon and try to defeat - or if possible, rescue him somehow. TK wants to try and get into the Digital World and go straight for the Dark Lord, since we'll get nowhere with Ken. Cody wants us to stay here, call as many Digidestined as possible for help, and spend our time trying to get Tai and Matt outta there - they're on their own, facing whatever other creations the Dark Lord has come up with, and besides we could use the reinforcements." The others stood and stared at Davis, who was wearing an expression of intense concentration. There was a long silence. Then finally, Davis spoke. "It'll do us no good chasing Sectryomon, or the Dark Lord. We don't know the range of their power, and besides I don't like putting our own digimon under that risk - not to mention ourselves. We're no use to anyone except the Dark Lord himself as slaves to him. I reckon our best bet is probably to call for help - we did it once, we can do it again. We know that every digimon has a human counterpart, even if they don't know it themselves. Therefore, think of all the Digidestined there must be in the world!" "No." Yolei was shaking her head grimly. "I won't leave him. I know where he's gone - to that Dark Ocean thing, he's crossed over it. If we can get him back from it, he'll be alright again. Better yet, let's destroy it - then no-one will ever be driven into it again!" "You can't destroy it, it would ruin the balance of things." Kari muttered sullenly. Yolei glanced at her. "Then there's a chance we can get Ken back from it?" She guessed. "Only I can." Kari said at length. Yolei spun around suddenly. "Then what are we waiting for?" She cried, holding out her digivice. "Yolei, no!" Yelled Davis, but too late - Hawkmon had already armour- digevolved to the gigantic four-legged eagle, Halsemon. Yolei leaped on the creature's feathery back, grabbing Gatomon by the tail and yanking her up behind her. Gatomon hissed in anger, but Yolei seemed not to notice. As the girl had known she would, Kari scrambled up behind them, not to be separated from her digimon at any cost. At that moment, Yolei dug her heels into Halsemon's flanks, and they took off, huge wings carrying them swiftly through the ceiling. Davis and TK ran at the same time to jump for the ascending digimon and its riders, but unfortunately ran into each other, bashing heads painfully. Despairingly they listened as the girls were greeted with more screams from upstairs. and then the beating of wings faded into the chilly night. "So what do we do now?" TK asked despondently. Cody glanced upwards at the hole before returning to the construction he was idly creating from the rubble. TK sighed and balled a fist in frustration. "There's only one thing we can do," said Davis. "We can hardly desert those two, though I'd feel no loss if Yolei left right now. We have to follow them." There was another reason for leaving which was quite clear in everyone's mind, but which was left unspoken - it would not do to have Ken's mother return to find the apartment in ruins, her son nowhere in sight and them sitting in the middle of it. And so it was that about thirty seconds later, eight figures could be seen running down the street. All had used their armour-digevolved forms in case the Evil Emperor remembered how to use his black digivice to stop them digevolving normally. This meant that Davis ended up - complaining heavily - running alongside Flamedramon, Cody sitting on Digmon's broad shoulders as he pounded along, TK riding his winged horse digimon, Pegasusmon. High above them, a vast black shape hovered in mid-air, its gauzy wings thrumming around it. Two glowing red eyes watched the gang with amusement. But the creature shook his head - he could rest elsewhere. Sectryomon felt triumphant enough to perform a couple of loop-the-loops backwards and forwards, before setting off back home, to where his PC had miraculously survived. He knew his Lord's instructions - to concentrate on these Digidestined alone, since they had been known to cause trouble in the past. It was an easy task. He reflected smugly that the other digimon whom his master had used were probably wearily traipsing all over the world, and all he had to do was take his time on this little gang. Yes, he had definitely got the better end of the deal. 


	7. Chapter 6

In the deep, deep blackness, the blackness of the void, 'neath the parched, thirsting lands where no thing remains free. the Dark Lord sensed it. Every digimon has a human counterpart. and for the greatest stage (in his darkened view) of digevolution to occur, the specially formulated Dark Rings must bring them together. Now, finally, he felt the arrival of the human that would change the life of every other creature; the being upon whose shoulders rested the fate of both worlds. The Dark Lord gazed once more down at the beast below, the most powerful digimon in existence. Who would have thought that a mere human could have a partner like this? He must be great indeed. but not as great as himself, thought the Dark Lord. Yes, soon he would send out the particular Duo-digevolved slaves he had in mind. once he had caught them.  
  
Chapter 6 - Journey  
  
"I'm tired", Breddy said in a whiny voice. "Me too", Paul agreed. "When are we gonna stop? We can't just go on walking for ever and ever." "We can't stop", Jake said resolutely from in front of them, without turning round. "We'd lose precious time. C'mon, you think the Dark Lord's gonna let you stop and have a sit-down in the middle of fighting him?" Breddy and Paul sighed in unison. "No, wait." KT stood in Jake's path. "Look, it's getting dark. And although I agree, we need to get there fast - wherever we're going - but it makes no sense to arrive worn out. And besides, we don't really wanna travel at night." Jake looked like he was about to send back an angry retort, but Breddy interrupted. "I don't like to sound an idiot or anything, but. where are we going?" Jake and KT stared at each other, mouths open poised for an argument. Ali snorted from behind them, whether with laughter or derision or both. "So there you are," KT said smugly, "we have to stop anyway to figure out where we're actually going." And with that, she marched past him with a smirk on her face and her nose in the air. Jake gaped at her retreating back, recovering himself only when the others followed her. "She is just unbearable when she's won!" He muttered, just loud enough for everyone but KT to hear, and stifle their chuckles.  
  
Ali gazed out at the view. It was a beautiful sunset, a warm golden glow rising from the earth and fading through rosy hues to a deep, mottled night sky of purple and blue, dotted faintly with the first bright stars. They had seen this place from afar - it was an ideal campsite, situated on a high hill but ringed at the summit with thick trees and bushes which hid them from view. Now Ali sat comfortably on a thick purple sweater which had appeared on her along with her jodhpurs and boots when she had first entered the Digital world. but that seemed like a long time ago now, even though it was only earlier on that same day. Jodhpurs. she wondered if it was just coincidence that she had ended up with them, since she owned a horse and loved horse-riding. It must have been - KT too loved horseback riding, but had ended up with skin-tight clothing more suitable for swimming. Then again, KT loved the water. Her thoughts abruptly changed direction again. She had never really thirsted for adventure in the same way that the others seemed to. Now she wondered just how long they were going to be stuck here - days? Weeks? Months? Forever?  
  
"I'm hungry." Paul's voice dragged her out of her reverie. He was talking louder than usual to get his meaning across; otherwise she would not have heard him. She was sitting alone several metres away from the others, on watch duty. She didn't mind - at least she hadn't picked one of the short straws, and had to sit up awake and alert while everyone else was still asleep. In fact. "Hey," Breddy greeted her drowsily as she came crawling through the bushes. "Ow, these twigs are sharp!" Kittamon padded delicately along, checking each space carefully for thorns before she put her paw down on it. Ali smiled wryly. "At least the view's pretty," she said in a falsely optimistic tone. Breddy glared at her. "I'm sure I'd appreciate it. if I was awake!" Ali shook her head with a grin and left her friend muttering to her digimon, who curled up with a laugh. "Come on, Aramon," she called. The bright pink head of her digimon poked out from behind a tree. It was quickly followed by a chuckle of glee and the rest of the body, scampering ahead of her and showering her with leaves that she kicked up. KT admitted to herself that there should have been a flickering camp fire waiting for Ali as she returned. It would have fitted more with the scenery. However, none of them had matches, and Falmon was worried about using her power in case it started a forest fire - she was only a rookie, and had not learned well how to control her powers. So they were seated on piles of moss and leaves, huddled up close together as the night chill began to set in. "Why are we even doing this?" Paul's muffled voice moaned through chattering teeth. "I'm sure the digimon can take care of themselves!" No- one answered - they were preoccupied with their own thoughts. Mossmon draped himself over his partner's back, offering what comfort he could. Paul smiled gratefully up at him, feeling immediately guilty - his digimon was sacrificing his warmth for him. But Mossmon gave him a reassuring nudge, and Paul settled down. "Let's just try and get some sleep," KT sighed. "I'm sure we'll be able to think much better in the morning when our heads are clear." She lay down, and Leviomon crawled up to lie next to her. He felt far more exhausted than the rest of them, since he was reptilian, and needed the heat to live. Falmon positioned herself on his other side, knowing this weakness. Mossmon and Paul curled up in such a tight ball that one was almost indistinguishable from the other; but Jake sat up still against a tree, alone. Well, thought KT, if he wants to wear himself out so he has no strength left for fighting, that's his problem. And after that, she was aware of no more as she drifted into a deep sleep.  
  
KT shivered. She was cold; she reached out, groping for her duvet. But. all she felt was hard, damp earth. Of course. She was not in her warm, comfy bed now. Her eyelids snapped open. A noise. carefully, she sat up. Her back was stiff and she ached all over. It was dark, but her eyes quickly adjusted. To her right, Leviomon lay stretched out - he seemed dead but for the slight rise and fall of his ribs. Falmon huddled next to him, and beyond her Jake was sleeping propped up by the tree. A dark mass about half a metre off proved itself to be Paul and Mossmon. "Breddy? Kittamon? Everything all right?" She whispered as loud as she dared without waking the others. There was no sound from the gap in the trees where the pair sat on watch duty. A wave of guilt washed briefly over her - she was supposed to have relieved them of their post before midnight. The moon was well on its way back down towards the earth - it could be no earlier than a few hours before dawn. Still, she reasoned, Breddy should have come to wake her up. There it was again! It sounded like a call of some wild beast; it was coming from the other side of the hill. KT hesitated a moment, unwilling to leave the warmth and safety of the camp; but the sound had progressed to small, regular throbs. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she carefully rose to her feet. It was slow going through the thickets of brambles and trees, trying not to break branches or step on twigs. The noise became louder and louder as she got nearer and nearer - but it seemed also to dwindle, from an unearthly, intermittent whine to a whimpering series of snorts. It sounded almost like a young animal, in pain or, or just alone, and scared, thought KT. Now she moved with more urgency, in case it was a young wild animal; but just as quietly in case she frightened it. At last, she came across a mound of thick gorse bushes, through which a pale light was shining. Carefully, she parted the twigs. The sight which met her eyes was simply breathtaking. A large square of brilliant white light towered over a natural glade in the woods, almost blinding her at first. Silhouetted against it in perfectly-defined blackness was the shape of a young boy, sitting on the ground and wailing desolately. Perhaps he was magic, just an illusion created by a greater power. Perhaps he was merely a figment of her imagination, and she was only dreaming after all. She pinched herself quickly to find that this was not the case. "What is he?" An awe-struck voice said beside her. She jumped in fright before realising who it belonged to. "Leviomon! Aww, you gave me a fright. whadd'ya mean, what is he? I'd ask something more like: who is he, and what is he doing here?" The bright light reflected in Leviomon's eyes like huge, shining stars, as the scaly brow creased in thought. Then, he suddenly appeared to reach a decision. "Well, we won't find out anything just by sitting here." He said. He lifted a foot in preparation for advance, but another thought seemed to strike him as he did so. "Besides," he said, "what if he's like, one of those magical creatures that disappears when the sun rises?" KT only just managed to stifle an outraged squeal as her digimon scurried out of their cover at lightening-speed, making a beeline for the crying child. All at once, the boy stopped. The glade echoed with a deafening silence. Leviomon was a long, black shadow on the grass, hesitantly waiting halfway to the child. KT mentally cursed him, but she could do nothing else now. If it was a trap, it was bound to be sprung - at least she would be with her digimon, rather than separated from him. KT took a deep breath to steel her nerves, and plunged forward. Thorns and twigs scratched her bare arms and legs, and she could not avoid making more noise as she rustled about than she believed possible. When she finally emerged, breaking free of the prickly grasp, the boy was staring wide-eyed and fearfully at her. He had deep, gray-blue hair and big eyes to match; he wore an enormous sweatshirt and shorts underneath. He looked like a perfectly normal kid, unsure and afraid in a strange and scary world. For a long while, they remained stock-still in this position. Then KT took a step forward. "Come on," she said gently, "I'm not gonna hurt you." She was amazed at what she was saying - normally she was no good at all with young children, and would have stood there awkwardly before making an excuse to herself to wander off. But it seemed to be working; the child narrowed his huge, adorable eyes suspiciously, cocking his head on one side to study her. Then he appeared to reach a decision, and scrambled to his feet. A broad grin was on his face, and he tottered forward to gaze up at her. "We go now," he said firmly, taking her hand in one of his small, podgy ones and shoving the thumb of the other into his mouth in a manner that suggested it would not be taken out again in a hurry. KT shrugged and led him back to the bushes. Here she did not even pause before using her own body as a shield for him, making him a safe passageway through the brambles. "It's this way", she said, but he was already making his way in a perfectly straight line to her leaf pile in the camp. How did he know where it was? She thought, but her mind was suddenly arrested by something else entirely. "Where have you been?" Jake was standing in front of her, barring her way. "Um. er, through there." she spluttered in confusion. "What, just to use the toilet? KT, it's dawn already, Breddy was asleep when you were supposed to be on watch anyway, I woke up to find you and Leviomon gone - Falmon sensed no body heat, so you'd been "through there" for at least an hour! And that was half an hour ago!" KT gaped at him. An hour and a half? Had it really been that long? "Hey, little guy!" Falmon's voice drifted over to her from the other end of the campsite. "Who are you?" "Where did you come from?" "Do you have a digimon?" Mossmon, Aramon and Kittamon joined in. "I found him," Leviomon boasted. Before he could elaborate further, KT stepped in with a worried frown. "Hey hey, you guys, don't crowd him, he might get scared!" They all stared at her. Then she realised what she'd just said, and blanched. "What is going on here?" "First things first," said Jake, stepping in with outstretched palms. "Look, this is getting a bit chaotic. We don't even know if we can trust this little guy"- KT's face turned red with anger, but she contained it - "and we still have to keep moving on here. Let's all get together and discuss things properly." They could all see that it was a sensible plan, so the three other digimon went to find their partners, while Jake, KT, Falmon and Leviomon cleared a space big enough for all of them to sit in a circle. Jake sat himself on the highest position on a protruding tree root, Falmon yawning and slouching by him. KT gently set the new boy down next to Leviomon, who looked at him curiously, and sat herself on his other side. Before long, all of the others had arrived, and were seated in a ring, all looking with puzzlement at the youngster. The boy hid his face shyly beneath the arm attached to his mouth via his thumb. "OK, we've got a lot to talk about and not much time to say it in," Jake started. "First of all, I can see no-one - myself included - will be able to concentrate until we get the mystery of this newcomer sorted." He nudged KT to prompt her, and she told them (with a few exaggerations and minor changes of her own, of course) about her experience in the woods. When she was finished, Paul said bluntly, "So all the info we have is that KT found him, at night, crying in the woods. And we're expected to trust him. I mean, he could be a digimon in disguise, working for the Dark Lord. He could be the Dark Lord in disguise." "Well, there's only one way to find out," Breddy said. "We'll ask the boy himself." "I will," KT interrupted, before anyone could stop her. Jake shrugged and gestured for her to get on with it. Hesitantly, she turned to the boy, gazing solemnly up at her over his thumb. "Um. hi," she said awkwardly. Leviomon tittered quietly. She glared at him before returning to the boy. "What's your name, boy?" At first, it looked as though no response was forthcoming; but then he withdrew the thumb just long enough to say: "'Mben." "So your name's. Ben, right?" The child made no motion. KT gave up - Ben would do. "How did you get here?" KT asked. Ben took a while to think this one over. At length he said: "'Puter. Bigbig. Playingame 'puter." Suddenly his eyes welled up with tears. "Mommy!" He snivelled. KT turned to the others. "OK, so Ben here was playing on the computer and got sucked into the Digital World." "Which you can't, by the way, enter without a digivice," Leviomon pointed out. "Wan' ma wam!" Ben cried. Breddy hurried up to comfort him - despite misgivings at first, KT was actually quite relieved to let her. "I know, you miss your mam." Breddy said soothingly, but Ben interrupted her with furious floods of tears. "Wam! Wam! 'S Wam, not Mam!" KT sighed and looked at Jake helplessly. They were getting no-where. "OK, so the boy doesn't have much relevance." Jake admitted quietly to her. Even as she opened her mouth in objection, he calmed her. "But I know we can't just leave him here." He stared thoughtfully into a middle distance. "Doesn't that child even have a digimon?" KT nudged him pointedly, and spurred him into action. "C'mon Ben, you'll need some sleep, I bet."  
  
A few minutes later, Ben was fast asleep, curled up between Mossmon and Kittamon. "So we take him with us - somehow -" Paul was saying heatedly. They had disintegrated into a huge argument about everything in general; though they had between them thought up many more problems they would have to overcome, they had found no solutions. "That's a point," said KT, "He's too little to walk at our pace, but I'm certainly not strong enough to carry him, and although I know Jake would try, I don't want him to break his back - we'd end up carrying him too!" "Look, all of this is pointless if we don't even know which way to go!" Ali burst out. "But we can't just sit here arguing all day!" Jake yelled. "We have to get going! For all we know, the Dark Lord could be taking over our own world tomorrow!" A noise like an air raid siren from a world war wailed into painfully loud existence. "Oh, look what you've done now!" KT scolded the others. Ben was screaming his head off. Kt looked at him with concern. "Guys. I think something's wrong." The boy's eyes were wide, and as they approached him he dug beneath the digimon for cover. "Maybe we scared him." Breddy started to suggest; but she was cut off by a faint boom. Everyone stopped talking, and even Ben became mysteriously silent. Two seconds later, they heard it again, slightly louder. Boom. "Was it just me.or did the earth just tremble?" Breddy said shakily. They all automatically looked down at the ground. As a third boom, louder still than the others, sounded, Leviomon gave a squawk of surprise, and Kittamon hissed gently. The earth had indeed quivered. As one, they slowly raised their heads to stare at each other, then turned in the direction the sound seemed to be coming from. Another boom sounded, and then there was a silence that seemed to stretch for ever. The noise that followed was like the starting of a great engine, a deep roar accompanied by shrill shrieking, as of metals scraping together. And at the same time, a huge, dark something rose out of the trees and blocked out the morning sun. No, thought KT - lots of huge, dark somethings. Breddy screamed, and Kittamon jumped into her waiting arms. Aramon hid behind Ali, and even Leviomon slithered up KT in a spiral, finally coming to rest on her back, peering fearfully over her shoulder. "Gardromon", he whispered. The monsters were huge and square, made of brown and grey, dull metal. Emotionless eyes showed through slits between breastplates and helmets, staring down at the gang. "Falmon, quick!" Jake shouted suddenly. She turned to him and nodded once to show her agreement. With that, the digivice in his hand began to glow and whistle, and in a shower of sparks and beams of light the graceful majesty of Oramon towered over them once again. Well, thought KT grimly, if they're up to it, we certainly are, sleep or no sleep! And before she'd even given the command, Leviomon had leaped grinning into his own digivolving universe. "Quickly, let's run!" KT heard Jake shout. She shook herself from her awestruck trance at seeing Mermon again, and sprinted after the others, who were heading down the hillside. As she was above them, she was the first to spot the trap. "Look out!" She cried; then she realised that it was Mermon and Falmon who were in the most danger. Torn between her friends and her digimon, she hesitated for a split second. But in the end, she did not have to make that decision - Jake, panting heavily, was running sraight back up towards her. Evidently, he too had seen it. Wordlessly, the pair ran on, until at last they re-entered their camp. Oramon knocked the heavy metal feet out from under a Gardromon with her staff, blasting a Pure Ray attack at another at the same time that Mermon shot a Spiral Wave at it. The Gardromon exploded in a shower of orange, white and blue beams of light. "Oramon, watch out!" Mermon cried in his deep voice, jumping into her and dragging her to the ground just as a Gardromon shot bright red, laser-beam bullets at where her torso had been. Yet another Gardromon stomped forward for the kill, but Mermon swept it and a friend away with his thick tree trunk of a tail. "Kids! What are you doing? Run, now!" Oramon cried, seeing the gang re- enter the newly-formed clearing. Jake scrambled over a fallen tree, cupping his hands around his mouth and yelling at the top of his lungs: "Oramon, behind you!" The golden digimon turned her head, but it was too late - four giant machines, white and grey with square bodies, blue domes on their heads and only one rolling eye each, were charging towards her. (Mekanorimon, thought KT, looking at the large red jewels in the centre of their squared bodies.) Oramon could not avoid them; instead, she crouched low in a fighting stance, protecting the humans. At the last instant, just as it seemed impact was imminent and lethal, a blue blur shot past, filling the area like a watery comet, and smashing side-on into all four machine digimon. It was Mermon, surrounded by a shield of foaming water. They crashed into each other in one huge pileup and finally finish up in a heap of crushed metal beneath a tree. Just then, a smaller shape rose from the trees. It looked like a white horse with a red, horned mask and feathery wings. A red jewel was embedded in its chest. "Unimon!" Cried KT in surprise. Surprise, because sitting astride it, glasses flashing and cape flying, was the Evil Emperor. With a whoosh of air that knocked all the humans to the ground, Unimon flapped his powerful wings once and lowered his muscular body to the ground. All the machines were suddenly still, creating an eerie silence. Wisely, Mermon and Oramon used this respite to get their breath back. "So," said the Emperor with a sneer, "you're still here." He looked at Ben, who hid his face behind KT in fright. "And I see you've found another recruit. I understand why you chose him - I'll bet he's cleverer than all of you lot put together." "Enough talk!" Shouted KT in anger, moving to shelter Ben. "Mermon, attack!" Mermon bellowed with the full force of a typhoon; Oramon joined him with her own, more musical roar. As one beast, they leaped at Unimon and his rider, covering whatever distance was needed with the aid of Oramon's wings and Mermon's tail. But before they were even halfway, two rows of Gardromon closed ranks in front of the horse digimon. Before they realised what was happening, the pair found themselves fighting for their lives. Oramon dodged a laser bullet aimed her way and ducked over to Jake and the others, protecting them. "I wish we could do something to help!" Kittamon mewed as they watched the giants battle above their heads. A determined frown settled on Mossmon's face. "Why can't we?" He said, before spreading his large ears and pushing off from Paul's shoulder. With a delighted laugh, Aramon followed. "Hehe, I guess we've got nothing to lose!" Before Kittamon joined them, she rubbed herself briefly against Breddy's legs, departing with a flick of her yellow-tipped tail. The humans watched them enter the fray without protest, though they all could not help feeling an immediate sense of loss. Five Gardromon and a row of Mekanorimon seemed to have decided to target Oramon. The feline angel dodged blows and attacks from several of them, shooting her own whenever she could. But Jake could see that she was tiring, and there would soon come a time when a blow would hit home. When that time finally came, he knew. He could see the Gardromon that fired the laser beam, knew it was going to hit its mark. Oramon slashed a Mekanorimon with the sharp claws protruding from her fingers on the hand that did not hold the staff, turned with a roar to whack another. But she did not see the third firing. and then Jake felt a sudden, sharp pain in his chest, and Oramon collapsed, gasping, on the ground. Her staff rolled from her hand, and the light at its end dimmed. Meanwhile, Mermon had been faced with three Gardromon. One of them he took out with a thrust of his horned skull, another with his tail - the third lunged for him, and he did not have enough time for a proper attack. Instead he was forced to lock arms with it and wrestle, each trying to push the other to the ground using sheer strength. Sweat dripped from beneath the skull helmet as the giant digimon grunted with exertion. "Come on, Mermon!" KT's small voice cried from far below. It brought him the power he needed; with one last shove, he sent the metal monster sprawling in the dirt. He did not hear the Evil Emperor's chuckle as he did so, and did not see the danger until it was too late. Only KT saw the huge shadow looming over her partner, and she was powerless to stop it. With a crash that sent a force five tremor through the earth, a new squadron of Mekanorimon arrived out of no-where. One landed squarely on Mermon's back, winding him and forcing him to the ground beneath its weight. The others surrounded him, then as if on an inaudible command reached out with their big metal claws opened wide. Within seconds, Mermon was pinned helplessly by the Mekanorimon, each of them holding on with iron grip to his horned skull, arms and heavy tail. In one mass movement, like ants programmed by one mind alone, they reshuffled themselves, and managed to turn Mermon over, so that he was lying on his back. "Mermon, no!" KT cried as she saw the Emperor raise his hand, a red jewel glinting in his grasp. It seemed he had learned his lesson at last - gloating wasted valuable time. But then she felt a slight tugging at her wrist. Though she wanted with all her heart to stay in the hope of helping her digimon, and could barely tear her eyes from him. something compelled her to look down at Ben, thumb still in mouth, gazing up at her with big, sincere eyes. And something overpowered her own will, so that she followed him when he gently led her from the scene, stopping only when they reached the cover of the trees. Then and only then was KT free to turn back and look, horror-stricken, at Mermon.  
  
Row upon row of machine digimon surrounded Breddy, Jake, Paul and Ali. The foursome grouped together, standing back-to-back as they faced the mechanical creatures. "Don't worry, they won't kill us," Jake assured them. This was in fact true - as he had guessed, the Emperor wanted them alive for some purpose or another. "If they were going to kill us, they would have done so before." "Why is that not comforting?" Breddy growled. The first row of Gardromon lowered their square bodies into position, ready to shoot. "Mossmon." Paul whimpered. And then the digimon attacked.  
  
High up in the air, Mossmon had just released a Hedge Cutter attack at a random Mekanorimon. His attacks did barely any damage to the evil digimon, but he felt that he had to at least make an effort. But then, he heard the cry. It was not heard by his large ears, but rather was a voice in his head, an instinct he never knew he had that told him his partner was in trouble. Before he knew what was happening, Mossmon saw the computerised world of colour and noise, where data was at last let loose. "Mossmon digevolved to." He began. He knew what to do here. And at last, he was no longer puny and insignificant - he was growing taller and taller. Thick green fur grew over a sturdy, muscular, humanoid body; a breastplate, boots and gauntlets of hardened leather and metal studs, fastened themselves over his new, powerful body. And for the final touch, a perfectly-fitted helmet with enormous, stately antlers came to rest over his squat head, almost meeting with his black, slightly canine nose. ".Wodemon!" He cried, his voice carrying with it the might of a storm in the forest. Having lost the power of flight, he fell to earth - a surprisingly short distance now - and flattened a few Gardromon. He looked beneath his boots with satisfaction. This was only the beginning - his friend needed him.  
  
The force of Mossmon's landing catapulted Kittamon and Aramon into the air. They were actually rather glad of this, since at that precise moment two Mecanorimon had charged them from opposite directions. Now these two robotic monsters crashed headlong into each other with enough force to wipe out an oak; the girls landed safely on top of them. Then Aramon's head snapped round with a pained expression. "You sense it too?" Kittamon sounded fearful. Aramon nodded. "Let's go." And a few seconds later, two new digimon erupted in showers of pink, purple and yellow sparks. "Kittamon digivolved to. Zappamon!" One cried, in a shrill, crackly voice. She was a huge, elegant white cat standing on two legs. Purple patterns adorned her body, and two bright yellow wings curled over her shoulders and met in the centre of her breast. Not three, but five tails waved behind her, sparks grounding from tip to yellow tip. The other was not as big as Zappamon, standing on four legs and being about the size of a draught horse. She was purple, with some simple armour, an ornate bridle, spurs around each ankle and long, flowing ears and tail which streamed behind her as she ran. "Aramon digivolved to. Amparamon!" She said cheerfully. These three new creatures leaped into the mass of machines, tossing them left and right with ease and crushing them underfoot, in Wodemon's case. They made straight for the monsters aiming at their friends, hurling attacks at them. Luckily, Jake recognised the digevolving signs early on, so had time to tell the others to duck. Bits of metal whirred over their heads as they lay on the floor; several times, whole Mekanorimon flew by.  
  
But KT, crouching tearfully beneath the hedge, was blind to all of this. All she saw was the Evil Emperor mount Unimon from where he had been standing on her digimon's chest, and take off. "Come back, you coward!" She screamed, knowing that he was too far away to hear but yelling anyway. The Mekanorimon let go of Mermon at last, to go and join the fray. They were soon dashed to bits along with all the others. And finally, she was free of the spell that had taken hold of her. She sprinted across the barren earth, avoiding ruptures and burns in its surface, at a speed she never knew she could make. "Mermon." Was all she would say. He was lying with his head thrown back as the Mekanorimon had left him. Even as she approached, he began to shrink, grow back legs. and then Leviomon giggled nervously, rolled over and shook himself thoroughly. Then he appeared to notice KT, and a delighted grin lit his reptilian face. The red stone lay beside him on the ground. It had malfunctioned.  
  
All around, similar scenes of happy reunion were taking place. Oramon had survived and was determined not to de-digivolve, since then she would lose her wings. Breddy, Ali and Paul were admiring their new digimon. "Come on, let's take advantage of this while we can!" Jake called them together. "While our digimon have wings, let's ride them - we'll cover much more ground that way!" They agreed it was a good idea, but. "We still don't know which way we're going," pointed out Paul. KT, walking up to them with a new spring in her step and her digimon beside her, felt a tiny hand tug at her wrist. "Tha' way," said Ben. "Look, the clouds look darker over there," said Breddy. "That's just what he wants you to think," Jake disagreed. "He'll really be over there." "Tha' way," said Ben. His voice was so small that only KT could hear him. "But the trees thin out through these, look, and I thought that the Dark Lord lived in a barren wasteland," Paul gestured in another direction. "How did you know that?" "They always do." "Well, we can't go on assumptions like that!" "They're all assumptions! We have nothing solid to go by!" "Tha' way!" "Um. guys?" KT interrupted their argument. "How about that way?" She looked to where Ben was pointing. It did not look like a special place in particular, but she was growing to trust more and more Ben's sense of navigation. The others stared at her, waiting for an explanation. When he saw that one was not forthcoming, Jake opened his mouth to protest; but KT shut him up. "We have no rock-solid evidence to go on anyway. I'd rather trust a child with an unusually good sense of direction, than a bunch of landscapes the Dark Lord has conjured up for our benefit, none of which are likely to be real." Jake gawped for a moment, then closed his mouth into a smile. "You got me there, girlfriend!" KT let out a squawk of anger, and began chasing him round the wrecked camp, while the others stood and laughed. Leviomon moved unconsciously closer to Oramon, and wound himself around her leg. Still laughing at the antics of her partner and his, she gently put an arm around his shoulders. Amparamon snorted at this display of affection, but did not give them away. The gang had nothing concrete to go by; they were going to trust their lives in the hands of a four-year-old boy. But it was something. 


	8. Chapter 7

In the deep, deep blackness, the blackness of the void, 'neath the parched, thirsting lands where no thing remains free. the Dark Lord was angry. The annoying human Emperor had failed him again, and would be punished for it. For now. he would search for some stronger, more reliable servants. He would search for those who skulked in the shadows. yes, they had proven themselves strong enough. And then he would capture the gang who had beaten his human pet - they would aid him well in the conquering of the worlds. Brooding in the dark silence, the Dark Lord retreated from the cave in which his Beast waited. He waited too. for the Beast's partner to be found and brought there, and for his most powerful minion ever to be created.  
  
Chapter 7 - Freedom and failure  
  
Thir was woken by Lyomon nudging her elbow and demanding she get up. "Wha'? Whas' time?" She said groggily. Lyomon growled impatiently. "Breakfast time! I'm starved!" She said. Thir propped herself up on her elbows to look around. Nabu was sitting next to a bush with a patiently bored look on her face; Tai, Matt and their digimon were still sleeping. Suddenly, Thir felt a weight land on her, and a huge green something filled her vision. She yelled in surprise and fell backwards. Megmon - for that was what it was - laughed and scampered back to her partner. Thir stood up indignantly, giving the digimon a Look, and moved over to the boys. "Just like boys to sleep in," she grumbled, giving them each a gentle nudge in the ribs with her foot. "They're the laziest creatures alive." "Y'know, you just did exactly that," Nabu pointed out. Thir turned to her with a grin. "I know," she said. Before long, both boys were up and hunting for breakfast. The girls watched them with amusement as they looked at bushes and trees, complaining that there were no edible berries or anything, and what were they supposed to live on out here anyway? "Look," Thir explained with a patronising sigh. Nabu lifted a branch of the bush she was sitting next to, and scraped away a layer of dirt. A piece of material showed through. Nabu gave this a few tugs - on the third, it erupted from the earth in a shower of pebbles and dirt. Once the dust cleared, Tai and Matt could see in her hand a large rucksack, which she promptly and unceremoniously dropped on the floor. "Boy, am I hungry!" Thir said as the contents of the bag spilled over the ground. The boys' eyes widened in wonder. Bags of chips, pot-noodles, chocolate, even an apple or two here and there. A large, fleecy scrap of black material fell out last of all. Thir grabbed it, laughing with delight, and slipped her arms through holes in it. Once on, it turned out to be a sleeveless black hoodie, which she left unzipped for style - it was not very cold anyway. For some reason, as he watched her, Tai missed his goggles. If the boys had been expecting to sit down and eat properly, no knives, forks or plates appeared from the bag. As it happened, they needed no prompting - they fell on the food like a couple of ravenous wolves, gulping it down and enjoying all of it not for its flavour but purely for the fact that it was food. Nabu surveyed them with disgust, despite the mess she herself was making with a pot noodle. Even the digimon joined in with just as much gusto, cramming the food into their mouths with signs of the greatest enjoyment. Finally, they had all eaten as much as they dared - some still had to be saved, having seen how useful that tactic proved to be. The humans packed it away reluctantly, while their digimon looked on wistfully. "OK," said Thir, taking a deep breath, "Now we go back in." Lyomon immediately growled in anticipation and began crawling through the undergrowth. Megmon giggled. "Wait, wait! There might be digimon out there!" Matt called them to a halt. Nabu snorted derisively. "That's OK," said Thir, "there's nothing Megmon and Lyomon like better than a good scrap." "No, you idiots, the two of them would be no match for one of those evil ones!" Matt said in frustration. "Look, we may not seem much now, but we can digevolve, you know!" Lyomon said angrily. "Hey, guys, cool it, OK? You're doing my head in," Agumon interrupted their argument. They all stopped, and Nabu gave a grateful sigh of relief. "We can't just barge in there without a plan," Tai said incredulously. Nabu muttered: "Well, if we formulate a plan, it'll just backfire, which is even more frustrating." "Yeah, and besides, it's worked so far," Thir said; correcting herself straight away, "Fine, so maybe it went slightly wrong. But that's just it - if there's no plan, it can't go wrong!" And she stood, beaming smugly, at Tai. Nabu shook her head in despair; Agumon and Megmon were stuffing long claws in their mouths to keep from laughing out loud. "It's not as if it's a hard task," Tai said, rolling his eyes. "We decide to get in there by, say distracting the Dark Lord at the same time. Two of us will go down under; the other two will stay outside to attack the Fortress from up on top." "I'm good at the sneak jobs, but I can't resist a chance to give the Dark Lord a teasing of the nyah-nyah-can't-catch-me sort," Lyomon said. Megmon started to say, "Yeah, we'll fight too!" But Nabu stopped her and said resignedly, "I'd love to go kick some Dark Lord ass, but I've heard a rumour that the Dark Lord has a secret weapon - a really powerful water digimon. I like water, so in case we meet it I might come close to figuring out what to do. The rumour's probably not even true, though." "Such an optimist," Agumon said with humour in his tone. "Although Greymon's a better fighter than me, he's got the crest of Courage - which he's going to need down there in the dungeons." Gabumon offered his thoughts. "No fair, I wanna fight!" Tai protested, but Agumon saw the sense in this decision, and managed to talk him into it. "So we're agreed. See? Simple plan, and I bet it'll work the best," Tai said, turning to the girls. They both gave him a Look, and then everyone burst out laughing. "Agreed!" "Yeah, OK then!"  
  
It was one of many Darktyrannomon which first saw two large digimon spring forth from the trees. It was well trained (no Rings were used on naturally evil digimon, since this seemed to be a waste of time making them), and immediately opened its jaws to give vent to a roar that shook the foundations of the earth. Other Darktyrannomon standing on watch soon joined in the alert and came stamping to attack. Matt loved the feeling of wind streaming through his hair, his fingers buried in Garurumon's thick white fur and clutching tightly the feathers which sprouted from his shoulder blades. The wolf digimon was a fast runner; his agile paws pounded the ground in a light gallop, keeping pace with Thir, who was flying on Dichamon up above. Dichamon was another four-legged, canine digimon, but she was red-brown in colour. She wore a black fur with fiery patterns, tied by the legs around her neck and rear, with the feline head over her own forehead and the pointed canines falling in front of her eyes. There were still black, jagged stripes on her legs and her ear-tufts and tailtip were black; and now, she had two crudely-painted black smears beneath either eye. Cream- coloured, feathery wings erupted from her shoulders, lifting the fur coat as they rose and fell rhythmically. Thir enjoyed flying on her digimon as much as Matt did riding his, and the two were not at all reluctant about going deliberately to fight the evil digimon - rather, they were looking forward to the roller-coaster ride it would provide them with. On a command, the Darktyrannomon simultaneously launched flamethrowers at the charging wolf. Garurumon made a flying leap to jump straight over them. He howled, and a blast of blue ice flew from his mouth. Several Darktyrannomon fell screaming from the black rock battlements of the Fortress. Matt, however, was looking worried. "Be careful, Garurmon," he cautioned his partner, "Fire's good against ice." Garurumon nodded his fearsome head in acknowledgement.  
  
Up in the air, Thir and Dichamon were soaring higher and higher on a thermal, trying to get a good view of the Fortress. They were, from this angle, able to see in over the outer walls - inside was a large courtyard open to the sky. A thin trickle of smoke emanated from a large lump of metal in the centre of it, next to which stood a veritable swimming pool. A forge, thought Thir. Around the edges of the courtyard, on the inside, were various doorways. Two vast iron gates barred the main entrance; but Thir counted a total of five other dark, sinister-looking openings leading underground. "I'm tempted here," Dichamon said. Her voice was a savage bark, but to Thir it was just as normal as any human's. "We need to do a bit of reconnoitring anyway; who knows just how many dungeons, and in what layout, there are?" Thir reasoned. "And there's always the possibility we'll discover the Dark Lord's plans. Or even his secret weapon." Dichamon turned her head around to pierce Thir with one orange, fierce eye. Thir returned the grin. "You up for it, Dichamon?" She asked her digimon. In reply, Dichamon howled wolf-style and plunged down into a steep dive.  
  
Down on the ground, things were not going too well. Even though nearly all of the Darktyrannomon had been wiped out by Garurumon, no other signs of life from within the Fortress had shown themselves. "Matt, look! Thir and Dichamon are going in," Garurumon cried. "Then it doesn't look as if the Dark Lord's taking the bait," said Matt frustratedly. "But Tai and Nabu will be in by now. we have to distract him somehow!" "It looks like we'll have to use more drastic measures," the wolf digimon said, looking back at his friend. Matt nodded grimly. "Go for it, Garurumon!" Immediately after the next wave of fire blasts from the Darktyrannomon sentries, Garurumon leaped forward, ice spewing from his lupine jaws. This time, though, instead of aiming at the dinosaurs, he was aiming at a portion of the wall, where it met the floor. "That's it! Nearly there," Matt called encouragingly to his digimon. Thick layers of freezing ice were building up next to the wall. Finally, once the ice was piled up nearly as high as the battlements, Garurumon stopped, panting for breath. But there was no time to rest; Dichamon was speeding downwards, Thir just visible clinging on tightly between the folded wings. Garurumon ran towards the wall as fast as possible, and straight up the rough slope that the ice had created. His claws and rough pads were designed for this sort of work, and where other creatures would have slid off the slippery slope, he kept on running at almost the same speed. With one last bound high above the heads of the Darktyrannomon, he cleared the battlements and fell a long way down to the ground on the other side at almost exactly the same time as Dichamon spread her wings and alighted. With no more than a quick clasp of hands between the humans and a nuzzle from the digimon, they were pounding on through the first random entrance they saw, before any enemies caught up with them.  
  
Tai, Nabu, Agumon and Megmon were meanwhile back in the slimy tunnel yet again. The digimon had attempted to start up a conversation, but their human friends didn't seem in the mood to talk. Or, as Megmon companionably put it, they were not the talking types. "Urk," was all Nabu said as she emerged into gloom at the end of the slide. This time, they had slid down sitting, as if on a water slide - this made it less painful and uncomfortable, but they stood up with green, slimy rears. Megmon drenched Nabu with a shower of water to clean her off, and then moved on to Tai in a generous mood. "Megmon!" Nabu shouted crossly. "Now I'm saturated!" Tai laughed, as he knew what his digimon was thinking even as he thought it. With a light breath of scalding hot air, Agumon dried the humans off quickly, and they proceeded down the tunnel. It was different to the way Tai remembered it, but he couldn't put his finger on how. "I wonder what's up with the digimon?" Nabu asked herself quietly. "They're kinda tense." Megmon provided the answer. "There's lots of 'em that have gone now. Presumably they've been Ringed. but how?" She finished darkly. Seeing Tai's puzzled look, Agumon explained. "We reckon the Dark Lord's been working on a new type of Dark Ring. That would prove why he needed an entire dungeon for all the digimon waiting for Rings when he had plenty already - it was a different kind he wanted." "Well, let's get to work," Tai said in a falsely light-hearted manner, and turned to face the block running down the middle. Nabu stood the other side, and as one their digivices began to whine. "Agumon digevolved to." The dinosaur cried, and finished three times bigger, with an added skull: ".Greymon!" "Megmon digevolved to." Megmon said cheerily, herself growing though not as much, falling almost on all fours but not quite - her hind legs were too huge and powerful for that. Blueish fins sprouted elegantly from her elbows and back-pointing knees, and a fin-like crest erupted vertically over her head. ".Caprimon!" She roared. The pair matched well - two dinosaurs, a tyrannosaur - like creature and one more like a velociraptor. One whose element was fire; the other, water. Nabu and Tai both had seen their digimon digevolve before, though; and as Nabu kept a cold air of indifference about seeing the two together, Tai decided not to make a fool of himself, and remained silent. Their digimon knew what to do. Greymon opened his jaws and began by letting loose a blast of searing flames, which travelled along the middle section like a wildfire, ruining the circuits which held the doors in place. One by one, they opened wide, and the digimon within stirred and looked out in wonder and suspicion. "OK, guys," Tai addressed the newly-freed digimon and the ones still held captive, "We're letting you go. But only on the condition that you leave us alone, escape through that tunnel -" he pointed to the hidden exit - "and go far away or hide until all this is over." The last part of his pronouncement was almost drowned out by cheers all around and cries of "Yes! Yes, of course!". He grinned happily; and behind him, not even Nabu could hold back a smile. "Tidal claw!" Caprimon bellowed, not to be outdone, and for a moment everything stood still as the enormous water energy built up within her. Then, with all the force she could muster, she slammed her hand into the metal machine, digging her claws in to puncture the casing, rupture the wires inside. The water energy that travelled with them flowed along the electricity lines - and, as any sciency person knows, water and electricity don't mix. The lock machine juddered slightly, bolts and flashes of electricity running over its surface and racing to catch up with Greymon's fire, which was still in sight - just - but was beginning to dwindle. Tai and Nabu shared a glance full, for once, of true emotions - excitement, hope, amazement, daring. Then they started to run along the path their digimon's attacks had caused, to free the next block. With a roar of laughter that made some newly-rescued digimon scurry back into their cells in fright, Greymon and Caprimon pounded after.  
  
Dichamon and Garurumon were both running now, at once to and from evil digimon. They had to make sure the Dark Lord's attention was focused on them; and it seemed that if he would not be drawn to them, they would have to go to him. Suddenly, the corridor broadened out into a large cave. They had been running downhill for a while now, so Matt estimated they were many metres underground. Thir held up a hand for them to slow down into a gentle lope, cocking her head on one side to listen. A distant roar floated down to them; Dichamon pawed the ground nervously. However, it was too distant to be of immediate worry, and the humans dismounted to look around. The cave was lit by numerous glass cages imprisoning hundreds of tiny Glowflymon, tiny fairy-like digimon which gave out a soft, pale light. As a result, despite the number of these creatures, the cave was still fairly dark and gloomy. It was otherwise filled with flat, rectangular rocks, most with chains attached. The walls were hung with more chains and Dark Rings, and a crate at one end had strange and horrible symbols painted on it. Thir shuddered. "Even if we weren't trying to draw attention to ourselves, I'd still have to wreck this place," she said softly. "Matt!" A voice echoed from the far side of the vast space. Matt turned incredulously. "Gomamon?" He said. Garurumon prowled cautiously over, then abruptly pricked up his ears and wagged his tail slightly. "Gomamon, Biyomon, Tentomon! What are you doing here?" He growled in surprise. "Isn't it kinda obvious?" Biyomon asked patronisingly. Matt jogged to join his digimon, followed by a confused Thir and her partner. The three digimon were chained to the wall, sitting with their chains at full stretch to avoid a nearby pile of Dark Rings. "Oh yeah, this is Thir and Dichamon. Thir, this is Gomamon, Biyomon." "And Tentomon. I gathered. But, um. how do you know them exactly?" "We know their partners - and so do you. Joe, Sora and Izzy." Thir's eyes widened, and she giggled. "But, guys, I mean, how long have you been here?" Matt asked. Tentomon replied. "Two days, two nights. We were caught late that night after we talked on the computer." Seeing Matt's mouth open in question, Gomamon quickly explained. "If you're wondering why we haven't been Ringed yet, it's because the Dark Lord has a new kind of Ring that he'd really prefer to use nowadays. It's used on the human partner as well as the digimon - not only are they both then under his control with no-one the wiser, but they can digevolve to a new, even more powerful level. Just lately, he's had rock digimon hammering on that forge without respite for more than a day. And that crate over there." He gestured to it with his oversized forearm - "Well, we've seen 'em putting little gems in it. They're all black, but we haven't seen them in action yet. Except for. Ken. Ken was the one who invented them. From what we've seen, they make the human and digimon "duo-digevolve" to a new, more powerful level under the Dark Lord's control. But since Ken used them on himself, he for some reason was unable to make any more. So now the Dark Lord is trying to create his own. It's kinda funny sometimes - for such a big cheese, he gets a little dumb. " Matt and Thir stood wide-mouthed, processing this information. Then their glances met as they heard a crash behind them. The Darktyrannomon had entered the cave. " You tackle the heaps of Rings and the rocks. I'll go smash the glass cages." Thir said quickly. Matt nodded. "Garurumon?" The ice wolf placed a frozen claw on the three digimon's chains, and before long the metal cracked under the unbearably low temperature. "You three just stay outta trouble," Matt advised them. Though they wanted to help, they could not digevolve without their human friends and the digivices they possessed. Understanding the urgency of the situation, Gomamon led them into a dark corner to wait out the storm. "This'll be fun," said Thir. Matt grinned in agreement, then stood back as Garurumon leaped forward, straight into a flat stone. It tumbled over, and the backlash of his whiplike tail sent a pile of Dark Rings clattering to the floor on the far side of the cave. They were then crushed underfoot by the advancing Darktyrannomon, who promptly sent a well-aimed fiery breath attack at the ice wolf. Garurumon narrowly escaped being torched. "Little help!" He growled up at Dichamon, who was flapping high up near the roof to reach the Glowflymon. She glared at him; most winged digimon would have trouble trying to fly even in this amount of space, but because she was only the size of a small but incredibly strong pony - barely big enough to ride - she had no problems. Evidently, she was telling Garurumon to count his blessings. Just then, though, Thir reckoned her digimon had got into position. "Now, Dichamon!" She called. The winged creature made a noise somewhere between a bark and a howl in response, and plunged forward. Her large front paws stretched out in front of her and her wing- and tail-tips smashing the ones they missed, she flew straight along the rows of living lanterns. The delicate glass shattered easily, and the tiny balls of light that were the Glowflymon immediately put themselves to use. As they were set free, alternate individuals went either to cluster around the Darktyrannomon so Garurumon could see where they were and avoid them, or to light the way before Dichamon in her destructive path through the air. The overall effect was dramatic, with Garurumon and Matt all but hidden in the advancing shadows, the DarkTyrannomon lit dimly from a multitude of angles, and Dichamon and Thir seeming to chase after the light, sending them into stark contrast. Garurumon was not doing badly for himself either in terms of destruction. Not a Ring remained whole unless it was hung up out of reach; most of the stones were overturned, some with writhing Darktyrannomon tangled in their chains. At his speedy run, Garurumon went charging into another flat stone, sending it flying; the one behind it, he jumped on top of, only to push off it and so into an advancing gang of evil dinosaurs. They did not see him coming - he was in darkness, for all the lights had now gone out except for those alerting him to the positions of the enemies. "Time to go, I think!" Matt shouted over the turmoil of angry and confused roars and crashes. With that, Dichamon dropped from straight above them, making them jump - not to mention the surrounding scrap metal, at the force of those huge front feet. Garurumon appeared from nowhere, leaping from the bunfight to land squarely in front of his partner. The humans climbed onto their digimon, and they were off again, back out the way they had come, through the courtyard - now filled with digimon of all strengths and sizes, all running in the opposite direction before they realised who they had just seen - and in through the next door. Yes, this was fun indeed.  
  
Caprimon could feel something in the air. She sensed a water power stronger than any other, or perhaps many water digimon. she shivered. "What is it, Caprimon?" Nabu asked her. Caprimon looked down at her partner. Tai and Greymon were supervising the deserting digimon, teaching them to climb up the tunnel. "Can't you hear it? It's a, a plea. a desperate cry for help. we must hurry!" The giant lizard was suddenly agitated. Nabu sighed and called Tai over. "She says she feels a cry, a "cry for help"." "What d'you reckon? Water digimon next?" Tai asked. Nabu nodded. Greymon, sensing his friend's wish to leave before it was even expressed, came stomping up to them. "We going so soon?" He asked in disappointment. But Caprimon had already lowered herself for Nabu to climb on. The girl looked at her dubiously - she was used to riding horses, but dinosaurs? "Don't worry, I won't let you fall, now come on! We need to go!" Caprimon assured her impatiently. Nabu sat astride the digimon's back, gripping her neck tightly. It looked uncomfortable. Tai watched her mournfully, knowing he had no choice but to do the same. Otherwise, he would be left behind. Tai ended up sitting on Greymon's strong shoulders, laughing aloud with exhilaration as they pounded down the dark, stony passage. "This is some fun!" He cheered. "Why didn't we think to do this before, Greymon?" Greymon merely growled in answer. Suddenly, Caprimon ground to a halt, throwing Nabu against her neck with a force which made them both squeal. Greymon promptly turned the corner, skidding hard to stop before hitting the girls, and launching Tai through the air, to slide down to the ground in front of a thick, heavy wooden door with metal studs. "Move, Tai! We don't have time to sit around, we have to get through there!" Nabu said, glaring at him with just a hint of amusement well hidden behind her fierce dark eyes.  
  
Inside, there was not really much to look at. A vast stretch of dark, faintly glinting water ended all around in stony walls. The only land available to stand on was a narrow ledge - even that did not run far. At the end of it was a wooden box; Tai walked over to it and found that it contained little devices for breathing underwater. They were strange things, like masks only covering the bottom half of the face. A loud splash from the pool indicated where Caprimon had just gone - she needed no breathing or swimming aid, for water was her element. "Fairly obvious what we have to do here," he said. Greymon gazed fearfully at the water. "It's OK, Greymon, you don't have to go in," Tai told him gently. "No, but we are." Nabu's voice sounded from behind. He tossed her a breathing-mask, placing another over his own mouth and nose. They stood there a little awkwardly, until Tai said there was no need to undress, they would just have to get wet, they would dry off anyway afterwards. he stopped muttering, and they walked to the water's edge together; not even Nabu could fully hide her fear at the sight of those pitch-black depths. Just then, the blunt reptilian head of Caprimon broke the surface, showering them with chill spray. "Yep, it's digimon all right," she reported, "rows upon rows of them. It's like a giant filing cabinet in there. The controls are at the bottom - you two sort them out, I'll tell the digimon the rules of the game. Quickly - we're running out of time. Don't forget, Matt and Thir can't keep that diversion going for days." And with that, she dived under in a smooth movement, her long ears trailing behind her. Nabu looked briefly at Tai for reassurance; no words were needed. Then they jumped in. Underneath, there was a dim light - just enough to illuminate the lining of the watery cavern. It was filled with row upon row of cages of all sizes - at the top were Scubamon and Gizamon sized creatures, then below them monsters like Dolphmon and several Seadramon. Nabu and Tai swam further down, intrigued and fearful of what lay in the bottom cages. The spaces grew larger and gloomier, even though there was actually more light down here - dark shapes shifted within them, and eyes of all colours and sizes glared curiously out at the intruders. Tai even thought he once saw, in a particularly huge cage, a flash of metal and serpentine body - a Metalseadramon? Surely no-one was strong enough to capture this malicious devil, it must have multiplied or something. As they dove deeper and deeper, the bubble of light which contained the control panel grew clearer and larger. Soon they could see the rows of slots and levers that operated the entire cavern. A few metres away from the bubble, Tai eagerly swan forward with a burst of energy, reaching out to touch it. CRASH! Tai fell through the surface, landing hard on a concrete floor. He spat out the breathing device and rubbed his head ruefully, just as Nabu walked calmly in from the side. She frowned at him, removing her breather and putting it carefully on a surface. "Tai, there's no time for a rest now. I didn't know you were so unfit - it was only a short swim." "Hey! I'm not unfit!" Tai protested, meaning to tell her the truth. Then he realised that the truth was probably more embarrassing than the deception, and that she more than likely knew anyway. So instead, he righted himself, and looked despondently at the panel. "Will Caprimon have told the digimon what to do yet?" He asked Nabu. She scowled thoughtfully. "I think I can see her now. you see that dark thing up there? She's communicating by the water-speak we don't understand and, for the most part, can't hear. Obviously, she couldn't talk normally underwater, and it wouldn't carry so well." Tai nodded. An elegant form was gently twisting and looping around the cave, presumably "talking" as she went. Tai watched her for a while, then looked around the cavern again. "Hey, look over there," he said suddenly, pointing to the far wall. Behind them a grated steel gate stretched from ceiling to underwater floor - a big red button on the panel (just itching to be pressed) indicated that it would open this. But in the other direction, where Tai was indicating, was a huge portcullis, nearly the size of the gate itself. Nabu shrugged with a noncommittal grunt. In silence, she turned back to her partner, while Tai watched the portcullis thoughtfully. I wonder what's behind that, he thought. It must be something pretty important to get a chamber all to itself. at that moment, a very, very faint tremor rippled the side of the bubble just slightly. Tai's eyes opened wide - the ripples had come from the portcullis. Or perhaps I should be asking who is behind it. He frowned. "OK, she's done, let's get going!" Nabu said from behind him. He jumped, and looked at the switchboard. There seemed to be just one major problem - they had no card keys to fit inside. Nabu was standing next to him, in the same situation. She snorted with desperate laughter briefly. Tai glanced around him, aware of the need for speed. Surely, there would be something, or even the Evil Emperor could not get in without a whole bunch of keys, which he wouldn't want to risk losing or forgetting. "Ah-hah!" He cried triumphantly. In a little box with a warning sign on it and a front of glass, a black card was visible. Smugly, he picked up Nabu's breather and used it to smash the glass, delicately picking away the splinters remaining. Behind him, Nabu had grown bored. There was a sigh, a loud click. and then the siren started. Startled, he leaped to face her. "What did you. oh," he said weakly, looking at the way she was standing with her hands behind her back, maintaining as innocent an expression as possible (a smile still treacherously showed through), and at the way the big red button was flat on the surface. Frantically, he tried to pluck it back up again; but it was stuck there. "At least I opened something," Nabu said. Tai looked around. The larger steel gate was slowly grinding open - and beyond it was nothing but beautiful, blue ocean. Nabu's eyes filled, for the first time, with hope, and she snatched the card key from its fixture. Driven by a new force, she slashed it through slot after slot. "Come on, help me here!" She called to Tai, galvanising him into sudden action. As she drove the card through the slot, he pulled down the lever; once he caught up, they were soon into a systematic routine, working in harmony at a great speed. Above them, door after wire door flew open, and dark shapes began to swarm around their bubble. Tai gasped as a large, malevolent eye peered in at him - a Coelamon? He had no time to tell. The distinctive form of Caprimon, however, had disappeared from view. Nabu noticed this, too, and said shortly that she was probably fighting with Greymon. Before long, the doors they were opening were twice the size they were - and the aquine monsters that flowed from their interiors, too terrifying to think about. The above water was a writhing mass of marine digimon, not knowing which way to go or what to do. The siren was wailing in the human's ears, a red light somewhere was flashing - but then, plunging down toward them through the murky, shifting tangle, was a small, orange dinosaur and a large, greenish one. They both fell through the bubble, landing in a panting heap on the floor. At least they didn't land on my head, thought Tai, looking at Caprimon's heavy muscles. But even as he watched, they shrank. She was exhausted - so, by the look of him, was Agumon. "Who set off the alarm?" Agumon asked through gulps of air. "Yeah, who do we blame for the chaos up there?" Megmon chirped. Nabu giggled guiltily. "Wait, wait. chaos?" Repeated Tai, his face paling as he guessed what was coming. Agumon nodded. "A full compliment of Dark digimon, Ringed digimon, and digimon with funny little stones in them. Only a couple of those, but they looked powerful. Oh yes. and our old friend Ken is there, in all his gear, Wormmon on a chain being dragged along behind him." "Can't help feeling kinda sorry for the little guy, you know?" Megmon said, grinning. Nabu was gazing at the open gateway. The first, smaller digimon were swimming through it, and larger monsters were crowding round frantically. Tai sighed shakily. "Come on, we've done our job," he said, "now let's get going." Agumon opened his mouth to ask where - then he saw where Tai was looking. Plainly, the way out on the surface was closed to them. The light of the open blue shone on their faces as they marvelled at it. After spending so long in the dark, it was a wondrous and glorious sight. A gigantic, dark shape flowed smoothly past their bright bubble - they stared in fear as the light revealed its serpentine body, metal armour and weed-like grey hair. Metalseadramon had been previously strong enough to command his own battalion against the Digidestined; now, he gave the duo and their digimon a wink of gratitude, before weaving his way down back into the depths, where he belonged. As if inspired by his awesome example, Tai, Nabu and Agumon all grabbed a breathing device - luckily, Agumon had thought to bring spares. Caprimon joined them as they leaped out of the strange coating, suddenly feeling the difference in gravity and pressure, and began the swim for freedom. Even as they took their first stroke, though, vibrations shot through the water. A loud grinding noise of metal on metal reached their ears, as far down as they were, though distorted by the liquid it had to pass through. Tai peered up through the murk. No. this could NOT be happening. he tugged urgently on Nabu's ankle, the only part of her he could reach as she rapidly swam ahead. When she turned around, he pointed upwards. An expression of dull horror registered on her face for a moment, before it was hid from view as she turned back to the gate and swam harder than she had ever thought possible. The gate was closing. And this time, thought Tai bitterly and furiously, I'll make it through. Somehow, the steel grid was falling, but not the solid wall that had previously backed it. Perhaps as a result, it was falling fast, faster by far than it had risen. Desperately, Tai put on a surge of energy, swimming faster than he had ever thought he could, faster than the athletic boys at school who raced; and grabbing hold of Agumon on the way, who was floundering helplessly. Megmon came back to aid the fire digimon and human, and between them, they managed to keep up with Nabu, who was a natural swimmer in situations that demanded it. The gate was closing fast - but (Tai calculated quickly in his head) they would cross it just before it blocked them. The last digimon, a Seadramon, wriggled past him; giddy with excitement at the thought of freedom and success, he dared even to stroke it gently. They were going to. But far above, on the surface, the Evil Emperor had made the same calculations as Tai. Furiously, he whipped a huge, muscular armoured digimon in the direction of the gate. The digimon bounded toward it, jumping high up until it was actually level with the sinking top of the gate. landed with cruel precision, forcing the gate down, snapping the chains which held it in place, thrashing madly as it realised too late the logic of it standing on a sinking surface, the loose chains dragging it down. The gate clanged, painfully loudly to Tai, Nabu and their digimon, as it hit the bottom with a fatalistic boom. Then, and only then, did they reach it, staring through crossed bars that were not there before, struggling to swim through a metal grid. No way out. There was no escape. the Evil Emperor was laughing up there on the surface, and they did not have to hear him to know. Trapped. Must be something about gates, thought Tai dismally. They really don't like letting me through.  
  
Matt groaned - yet another dungeon. They were running as they had been for fifteen minutes, through dungeon after dungeon, always filled with digimon, sometimes kids - either Dark-Ringed digimon, or kid-digimon teams waiting for Dark Gems, though they didn't know it. It was getting extremely depressing. They could not stop and free anyone, because they were on the run now. When they had entered the first tunnel from the courtyard, it happened to be the meeting-chamber for all the more powerful captains around, who promptly began a fast and furious chase. By now, Dark and Ringed digimon were running about all over the place, all convinced they were chasing Matt, Thir and their digimon. As long as the team kept running full stretch, they could not be caught. But Dichamon and Garurumon were finally beginning to tire, however much the humans urged them on. Then they rounded a corner and, upon entering a large chamber, saw the sight that would change their luck again - and again, for the worse. The Evil Emperor suddenly found himself face-to-face with a white wolf and a red wolf with cat-skin. He jumped in surprise, instantly recovering himself enough to yell, "Get those duos!" At the same time, the foursome had taken in a large, monstrous array of fearsome digimon, and four wire cages being carried at the back. Reflex actions caused them to leap away just before a huge dinosaur they didn't recognise took a swipe at them; Dichamon took flight, while Garurumon reared backwards. straight into a gang of pursuing Darktyrannomon. One of the black lizards sent Garurumon sliding across the floor on his side; a feline monstrosity kicked him further. The wolf shuddered, but could not rise. Matt stood and moved protectively in front of his partner; but there was nothing he could do against such force. Dichamon was wheeling around the small space in panic, howling with her strange fox-howl. A strange mix between a boar and an elephant shot a horn attack at her; she dodged it, clipping her wings on the wall, and Thir narrowly avoided scraping her head on the ceiling. But the next attack, a sludge bomb shot by a two-legged eel digimon, did not miss its target. It slammed into Dichamon, coating her wings with sludge, and rapidly being absorbed into her body. She flapped once, feebly, then fell like a stone, landing with a crash on the hard floor. Thir, luckily, was that bit lighter, so fell a millisecond later on top of her digimon. The last thing she remembered was seeing Matt, with hands tied behind his back, go down under a mountain of monsters; and of a waiting chain noose for her canine partner. 


	9. Chapter 8

In the deep, deep blackness, the blackness of the void, 'neath the parched, thirsting lands where no thing remains free. the outlook was good for the Dark Lord. The Evil Emperor had for once done his job correctly. almost. He had, of course, been punished for the escape of the water digimon and other digimon; and the Dark forces had undergone rigorous and forceful training after the utter destruction of his main experimental chamber. Still, he now at last had suitable test subjects - the humans he owned already had not been missing for long in their world, so were still useful to him in his army. In the meantime, the Emperor had been dispatched to bring back the particular Digidestined - who, he was sure, would duo-digevolve to unbeatable creatures. The Dark Lord turned to his monitor, from which he surveyed all of his realm, and lots of his realm-to-be. A small group of youngsters showed up. but they were wondering far away, across the sea, and posed no immediate threat, if any at all. He dismissed them for now - tomorrow he would send out some digimon to capture them. Yes, right now his attention was focused on the other dimension.  
  
Chapter 8 - A Light In The Darkness  
  
"D'you get the feeling we're not actually catching up very fast?" TK called down from between his digimon's beating wings. "Yes, and making a spectacle of it to boot," agreed Cody. As the first pale rays of dawn pierced through the skyscrapers and square office buildings, the early-rising commuters were beginning to wearily stir for work. Awestruck and bewildered faces peered out of high windows, rubbing their eyes, checking clocks and last night's drink. but the graceful winged digimon soared beneath them, letting the backdraught wash over the confused people, daring them to disbelieve. Cars screeched to a halt when the joined the main road down which Flamedramon and Digmon - not forgetting Davis - were pounding. Digmon had offered to send fissures further along the slip- roads in order to gain them some privacy, but Cody had not wanted to cause destruction. Nefertimon and Halsemon were flying with Pegasusmon, Yolei having slowed down and been placated not long ago. But she had refused to give up the chase, so they had simply joined in. "Davis, you look tired," said Flamedramon in concern. Ignoring his partner's glare, he continued, "Maybe we should." he stopped. "Who's that?"  
  
A girl of about their age with gold hair and blue eyes was running towards them. Yolei was the first to recognise her, by her clothes - a bottle-green top and pale blue jeans. "Frazz!" She exclaimed in false delight. Frazz was the girl's nickname - Yolei was unsure of her real name. Frazz was friendly and talkative; a conversation was the last thing on Yolei's mind right now, though. Frazz skidded to a halt just in front of Halsemon, who had landed in order for Yolei to speak properly, and gazed up at their digimon with sparkling eyes. Even as Yolei opened her mouth to tell her this was really not the time, a second pair of big blue eyes peeped around Frazz's shoulder. They were surrounded by snowy fur and surmounted with a blue-grey helmet. "You have a digimon?" Kari said, and this time the pleasure was real, accompanied by audible relief. "Why didn't you tell us?" Frazz beamed back at her friend, who took assurance in this and emerged properly. She was basically a cross between a polar bear and a mastiff - thick white fur covered her body, except for a belly and square muzzle of bright blue. She walked on two legs, with human-style knees; and one paw was encased in a fearsome metal gauntlet. "Actually, this is Blizzardmon, her Champion form." Frazz explained. "Isn't it just amazing when they digevolve? Oooh, you should see her when she's a rookie, she's so adorable! She's powerful now, you can tell, look at her paw." she finally noticed the other's' pained expressions. "What's the big rush?" "I'm afraid we don't have time to stay and chat right now," said Davis. "We need to find somewhere to lay low and wait for a bit. It's obvious we won't catch up with Sectryomon just by running after him." "OK," Frazz said brightly. "I'll take you to The Den. It's not high class, but it's the best hideout I know." For a moment she looked slightly downcast. "It's the only hideout still standing, so it's gotta be good." Davis gave her a sideways glance, but decided it could wait. The next second, the usual cheery grin had returned to Frazz's face. Wordlessly, the gang dismounted and followed her down the street.  
  
"Here we are," Frazz announced proudly. It was half an hour, many blocks and a lot of strange looks later - even though they had de-digevolved their digimon, some passers-by couldn't help but wonder at the walking "toys", as the gang told them. The others stared in disbelief at what she was indicating - at the barbed-wire-topped, rusty fence, at the heap of old cars, washing machines, mattresses and other appliances. Kari wrinkled her nose in disgust at the foul scents wafting past. "But it's a dumpsite!" Yolei said, in case anyone hadn't noticed. "Hey, if you don't wanna come in, you don't have to", Frazz said resentfully. "But then you'll never know. and besides, it's about time you joined up with us." And with that, she dropped down on her belly and wriggled through a gap at the base of the fence. She moved like she had done it many times before; like finding the barely noticeable hole and getting through it was a matter of routine. "Join them? Who are they?" Hawkmon enquired. Blizzardmon looked back through the fence at them and shrugged. "If you don't follow, you'll never know. If you don't follow immediately, you'll only get there the hard way." She said mysteriously, before de-digevolving to a small, white puppy on two legs. Davis suppressed a chuckle; Kari and Yolei let out huge "aaaaah!"s. She wore a helmet several sizes too big, which hung all the way over her eyes and halfway down her back. The straps dangled on either side, giving the impression of ears - or perhaps they were ears. This disarming new look managed to break the ice, however, and Davis slid through, Veemon fitting under with greater ease. One by one the others came after, until no-one was left outside, no trace that they had been there at all. except a bright pink camera on a string, which had come undone, caught in the wire fence and gently waving in the breeze.  
  
Davis found himself actually marvelling at the structure of their "Den". They were travelling on hands and knees through purpose-built tunnels of various odds and ends such as one would expect to find in a dump. Occasionally they came to crossroads - Frazz explained that any other paths led to dead ends, pits or traps to confuse an intruder. Davis was amazed how well she knew the way - but then, she had helped build it. After what seemed like hours, the tunnel finally opened out. It was a large, well designed area they entered - broken fridges around the edge ensured that the tarpaulin roof was at head height, from which tattered blankets hung for insulation. Tyres of varying shapes and sizes, most punctured but still round and firm, dotted the floor, covered with much cleaner blankets and towels (probably brought from home, thought Davis). Sitting on them were three younger girls and a boy of Davis' own age, who was actually in his science class. Three rookie digimon scampered toward them as they approached - a white creature with long ears and a pink belly, a strange yellow animal with blue stripes, and a big-footed rock digimon. "Oh, hi Davis, Kari, TK. Yolei and Cody?" The boy said. "I hadn't got you two down as digimon partners. but then, not even I am right all the time." His tone was dry but humorous; Davis tried hard not to look surprised at seeing him. "Oh, Psyman. hi." Psyman was the nickname given to him at school - his real name was Simone, but his reputation as a gamer within school had earned him the "psy" in his name. He was famously good at predicting the odds, making him unbeatable at the popular card and gambling games. Davis looked questioningly at the digimon and the girls, obviously their partners. "Oh, yeah. that's Sunra and Ruby, their digimon Bunnymon and Glamon. that's Skyla, her digimon was taken couple days ago. and this is Jagamon." He patted the earthen digimon's head affectionately. "Not exactly an overdose of brain, but a lot of strength, loyalty and courage. We work well together." Cody had been quietly wondering at the strange partnership of this highly intelligent, quick-minded boy and the slow, stolid potato digimon. Davis introduced his team, and Ruby eagerly invited them to sit on a tyre. There were certainly lots of spares lying around. "Um. I was just wondering, but." Davis felt something was not quite right, but couldn't put his finger on exactly what. Perhaps. Davis launched ahead. ".where are all the others? There should be more people, I think. and why this proportion of girls?" Indeed, it was unusual to have more girls than boys in a Digidestined gang; to have a ratio of four to one was highly suspicious. Psyman's strange, calculating glance seemed, just for a moment, to waver. "Because boys were the more reckless," he said. Cody frowned - this answer was not complete. Yolei sniffed, considering herself and Kari just as brave as any boy. but then, boys were the stupider, she consoled herself. As a good leader should, Tai silently absorbed the reactions of his friends, before raising an eyebrow himself. This was not the whole story. Psyman gave a heavy sigh, and began. "As soon as I found Jagamon, I knew there were others. Digimon and their partners, I mean - Jagamon called them the Digidestined. Later on, in fact, I found out that I was one of a low percentage who start out alone - most find their Digieggs in groups, as I expect you did. However they started out, there were a whole lot of other kids. And I wanted to meet them. So, I devised a simple test - I would present Jagamon to the class at large as a robot. Those who knew otherwise invariably came to talk to me after class. Many of them I had already predicted - however, Jagamon was vital in rooting out the unsuspected ones. "Anyway, one time I met a girl - Frazz here, in fact - who told me they were setting up a Digimon Den in the woods, her and some friends. It was a place digimon and their partners could get together after school without worrying about people calling the police or the lunatic asylum; also where digimon could stay and play during the day. I joined them, and before long the gang was huge, built across all the different schools through people's younger and older siblings, and we had several other Dens. I designed some traps for this one, our biggest and best - and now, our only. Those were good times - what better to do after school than go meet a load of friends, play with digimon and eat food from a whole variety of places?" "Hey, how come we weren't invited?" TK moaned softly in Kari's ear. She chuckled - at this time, they would have been busy fighting the Evil Emperor in the Digital World. "But then, just recently, people went missing. We would arrive at a Den after school to find it destroyed, the digimon gone. Some of us never turned up after school, and weren't there the next day. You know those two girls went missing several days ago? They were a part of this - they were two of the founders, in fact, of the older group - Tai's age, you know. They went into the Digital World, something none of us had done before, to try and find out what was happening. They haven't come back." "Hang on, so. how come no fuss was made over the other kids who went missing?" Tai asked. Psyman looked uncertain. "We're not sure. All we know is that notes have been arriving at school, signed by their parents - or so it seems - saying they're sick. But we called on one of their houses once, and their mom said they'd 'phoned about staying the night at a friends house to do a project. We didn't tell her the truth - not yet. We're not sure ourselves. "Just last night, a gang of boys ran away into the Digital World. And who can blame them? They were young, and they were scared. One of them was a small boy with a digivice, but no digimon. Strange case, that one. But only he got through - they were departing from their apartment, which was blown up a little later by something from the one below. Just as he entered the Gate, the computer was broken by a piece of debris. They 'phoned us, and that was when we decided to go into full-time hiding. I had no idea there were so few of us left." "So basically, there's a whole lot of mysteries and unanswered questions here," said Davis with a sigh. Veemon met his troubled gaze. "Davis, we gotta help 'em !" The digimon pleaded. Davis shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, but we've got two worlds to save here." He looked guiltily at the downcast younger girls, and at the dark, unhappy eyes of Psyman. There was a silence, broken by Skyla's determinedly cheerful tone. "We understand, it's OK. You can at least stay here the night, or as long as you want to. We'll be here indefinitely, as it seems the whatever-it-is- taking-us can't find us in here. We brought enough to make it comfortable for twice as many people; we thought there were more, from other Dens. Apparently.not." Davis frowned, then grinned and laughed out loud with relief. The others bounded forward onto tyres, and began to tell their own stories of how they defeated the Evil Emperor, while Skyla, Sunra and Bunnymon went to fetch some food from their "food store", a separate area branching off from the main room. Looking around, Davis noticed three more of these, and asked Psyman privately where they went. "Well, you know how it is, with siblings," Psyman said by way of explanation. "That way was the oldest generation - Tai's age, that way was the really young kid's age - but we didn't need to use that much. Our age group hung out round here; and through there is where all the kids of Sunra, Skyla and Ruby's age. That's where most of them were, and here. There tended to be big fights, often even involving properly digevolved digimon, when siblings got together with friends to argue with siblings and their friends. you know." Davis nodded, then shook his head. He didn't know, but at least he had his answer.  
  
Outside, the day was progressing. Midday came and went. The sun was getting low in the sky when at last, something stirred on the computer screen. Jirimo Taruitna was not a man of great imagination, but he knew how to work with computers. He had been browsing on the Internet during his lunch break at work, and had somehow accessed a strange web page that would not let him quit. Instead of unplugging the computer, which could cause it damage, he had just left it there and turned back to his paperwork. Now, just as he was about to pack up and go home, a little lightbulb had flashed green beneath a black box. He glanced at it curiously. His expression then changed to one of surprise as the box switched quite suddenly to a picture of a bleak and desolate, dark landscape. The last thing he saw was a large, black, insectile creature spring in front of the screen, some very realistic special effects (he assumed) making it seem to be leaping out toward him.  
  
Even for one as talkative as Yolei, there is only so much you can tell. TK had taken over the story when her throat got too sore; Kari carried on where he left off; when she got bored, Patamon and Gatomon told it between them. Veemon offered comments from time to time, but Davis was busy with his own thoughts. There was a great mystery behind all this, and yet he felt it should have been so easy to solve.  
  
There was simply nothing left to do. Hiding is all very well, but there must be something to hide from. And whatever the danger, boredom is so often the primary killer. The digimon had curled up in tyres of their own and were dozing fitfully - all except Armadillomon, who was snoring solidly. Yolei was fretting about Ken, TK was napping, and Davis was talking with Psyman in a low voice. Kari sighed - this was going to be interesting. She rose and walked over to Yolei. "Hey, what's up?" She asked. Yolei did not answer. Kari shifted uneasily. Yolei's desperate words came back to her: then what are we waiting for? And her own confession: Only I can.I can.I can bring him back, only I. the words echoed around her head. She was the only one who could. But she did not have Davis' courage, nor Yolei's love. These things she needed if she was to successfully cross the Dark Ocean and return alive, and not like Ken. "Don't worry about it," Yolei's muffled voice interrupted her thoughts as if reading her mind. "What's the fate of an evil-susceptible boy genius against the fate of two worlds, our two worlds?" But both she and Kari knew the answer to that question: to his lover, everything. Kari turned away and walked back to her own corner. It was late, and the only light they had was that of several torches positioned around the room, facing upwards. It was not great, but it was enough to see by. "We'd better turn those off," Psyman said gloomily. "Who knows how long we'll be holed up in here." Skyla spoke up. "Not too long, or our parents, schools, clubs, friends. all of them will worry about us. No, we'd better not stay more than three nights; and even then we should call our parents the day before and say we're staying at friend's houses." "And the schools?" Sunra asked. Cody looked at them shamefacedly. "If it worked for some faceless creature, person or force, it'll do for us. I bet we can forge signatures between us." Davis gritted his teeth, but said nothing - he hated all this deception and lies. However, he could not think of a better idea, so he wisely kept quiet. Each of them dragged some blankets into piles in the centre, and collected a cushion or two from a small pile. Davis could not help wondering if this wasn't just a dream - what on earth were these kids doing? Were they mad? Between them, a load of school children of varying ages had built. this. And equipped it with supplies for a veritable army. Now they were actually living here, preparing to sleep down here - indefinitely. Because they were being hunted by an invisible something which no-one had ever seen. He shook his head: no, they were not mad. They had digimon. "Those are what we scrounged from home. It's not much, but we thought there would be a whole lot more people, needing our stuff but also bringing their own." Ruby told them. One by one, Psyman switched off the torch beams. Gradually, the room fell into darkness. Davis had put the last one next to his bed, giving Psyman time to find his own blankets before they were all plunged into pitch blackness.  
  
CRASH! Davis was awake with a start as something smashed into the roof from above. Before he had time to roll out of the way, there was another sharp rumble, like thunder in a storm; and this time, the roof proved too weak. The hardboard ceiling uttered a final groan, before deep cracks spread like spidery fingers from the centre, further and wider, ever more appearing. From above the layers of wood came a terrible scream of rage and malicious delight at once, evil and sad, painful to the ears. It was followed by the fatal blow; the hardboard shattered, pieces flying everywhere in clouds of dust and shavings. The insulating blankets around the walls and entrances fell down with nothing left to hold them up, some bringing the fridges toppling down with them. A heavy, solid table that had formed part of the walls creaked ominously - a brief warning, as it slowly landed, bounced, its legs forming dents in the grimy, rocky floor. one right in front of Davis' nose, another in between two fingers. He whimpered in terror, and crawled from the scene at an amazing speed. In the very centre of the ceiling, from where the cracks spread out, the beast fell with the sawdust. His clawed feet raised clouds of dust as they landed on the ground; a broken microwave and several unidentifiable objects rained down after him. His red eyes glowed through the murk at the gang, coughing and struggling in the wreckage of their Den. Dragonfly wings fluttered rapidly, with a noise like a jet engine. "Ken!" Cried Yolei from where she and Hawkmon had been thrown by the force of the destruction. The creature paid her no more attention than to flick what must be called an ear, or something similar. He then raised his hand and clicked his clawed fingers. At once, a large force of a species of digimon Davis did not recognise, jumped through the now non-existent ceiling and landed around Sectryomon. They had deformed, useless wings on the backs and held chains in their scaly hands. They grinned and snarled nastily around, peering through the haze and sniffing - as they had been trained to do - for the scent of Digidestined (identifiable by the smells of two worlds, and of the strange Digivices).  
"Kari, fly now! Get somewhere safe and find Ken!" Davis cried on an impulse, moving in front of Sectryomon and the ugly creatures and holding out his digivice. Behind him Gatomon, of her own accord, Armour-digevolved to Nefertimon. Kari hesitated, unsure of what to do. Yolei pushed her onto her digimon, leaving her with no choice. "Find Ken," was all her friend said. "Please." And with that, Nefertimon leaped into the clouded air, darting through the hole in the roof with Kari clinging on for dear life. The agonising indecision of Sectryomon's insectile face was obvious; but before he could choose wrongly (in their view), the gang advanced. "Armadillomon digevolved to. Submarimon!" "Patamon digevolved to. Angemon!" And that was the last Kari saw of her friends before they were lost beneath a pile of rubble and dust, hidden from view by the cleverly-situated Den location in the dumpsite. Nefertimon swooped low over the site, so low that her tail skimmed the surface; Kari loved the feeling, after so much time cooped up in hiding, of the wind blowing her hair. They wove in between logs and rusty poles, dove under teetering arches formed by large pieces of useless, decaying furniture. And at long last, they soared vertically up from the bottom of the fence, Kari practically lying on her stomach across her digimon to keep from falling off, over the top. and they kept on going. Up and up and up they flew, higher and higher until it seemed to Kari (who in fact had her eyes tight shut) that they would surely come into orbit soon. And then Nefertimon stopped quite suddenly, levelling out, beating her wings slowly and getting her breath back after such a climb.  
Kari cautiously opened an eye. Nefertimon winked at her, so she opened the other one and looked around. They were hovering high up in the air, but not quite in the clouds. The entire city was spread out beneath them like a 3D map - Kari reached in wonder for her camera, but it was not there. "No time," said Nefertimon. "Have thought for your friends." Kari nodded, and scanned the awe-inspiring sight beneath her. No-one had ever had a view as perfect as this before. It wouldn't have made a good picture anyway - it was night, so it would not have worked. Still, seeing all the street lamps, bright advertisements and moving car lights was a beautiful spectacle, one that she hoped she would never forget. "There," she said, pointing. Nefertimon squinted at the huge structure she was pointing to - a cathedral, the only one in the city, but hundreds of feet tall. At its spire was the loft, not even used by the rooks any more, not since the city had been developed. "Good choice," said the digimon, and before Kari could ready herself took off once more, spinning like a streamlined dart aimed at the tiny dot that was the loft entrance. I wonder if anyone even knows this place exists, thought Kari as they neared it. Nefertimon fanned her wings, bringing them to a halt, and lowered them gently down. Kari dismounted rather shakily, and they walked inside, her hand on her digimon for comfort.  
Inside, it was gloomy, but not in a bad way. Shafts of mellow white moonlight streamed fuzzily down from cracks in the roof; ancient hay bales, all but gone, rested against the sloping roof. A trio of pigeons took off in alarm as the pair entered, cooing softly as their wings flapped, a noise that seemed loud in this silent place. The sounds of the traffic and nightly life had somehow vanished. Nefertimon padded in and lay down on the wooden floor, looking steadily at Kari. The girl walked slowly after, and sat down next to her big cat digimon. Nefertimon nuzzled her reassuringly. "Lie against me," she told her partner, "for you will need my comfort when you enter that place." Kari did so, thinking that her thoughts had been ascertained - "find Ken" meant in the Dark Ocean. She shivered even at the thought of this. "Here," said Nefertimon, and dropped something from her mouth into Kari's waiting hand. No, two somethings. Kari's eyes widened, and her heart filled with guilt, gratitude and astonishment. They were the digivices of Courage and Love - Veemon and Hawkmon could not digevolve without them. "I cannot do this," she said suddenly to her friend. "These belong to them, they need them more than I do. I cannot go back there." "Davis and Yolei gave them to you to help you through the Dark Ocean," Nefertimon said gently. "You have Courage to keep you going without turning back, Love to help you find Ken in the endless darkness, and Light to show you the way. Now they have given you all they can - the rest is up to you." Kari took out her own digivice and held all three in her hands. As she lay there, staring at them, she felt a warm glow tingle all the way up her arm, to her heart and her brain, an orange light of fire and determination and bravery. she closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and opened the locked doors of her mind, inviting in the one thing kept in the dark regions of the unconscious, that only reappeared in nightmares.  
  
There it was. spread out before her, a vast dark plain of still, glassy black water. She stared at it; it had the effect of a car's headlights on a rabbit, hypnotising yet terrifying. But the crest of Courage bloomed in front of her eyes, and energy surged through her. She set her jaw grimly and walked to the edge. The waves lapped like liquid tar, slowly, sucking at the land, reaching for her feet. Yet she hesitated only a moment before continuing in the same pace, feeling very alone and very afraid. The water never actually touched her feet; instead, it parted around them, revealing a tiny rim of black sand around each runner. This effect continued even when she was in up to her knees, and then her waist. It was strange and very creepy having dark water swirling around her, without actually being in it. Still she plunged onwards. She sensed, somehow, that to look back would be to fail, and to fail would be. in the Dark Ocean, failure was your worst nightmare. Immortal death, maybe, or perhaps she would be forced to watch her friends die first - or become a slave like they would back in the real world. she shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts, put there by the Ocean's evil influence, and walked just slightly faster. The worst part was when the water finally closed over her head. She looked upwards, and saw no light, even though she was barely underwater. She tried raising her hand up above her head - but always, the water parted around it, and it never broke the surface. She took a deep breath, forcing herself not to panic, and continued. There was a light of some sort, dim and sad, blue-green-brown, just enough to illuminate the path. Not that there was much to illuminate - black sand, black water. Was there even a path? Now she thought of it, she was just inside a human-shaped bubble, wandering deeper and deeper. All she knew was that she always seemed to be going down. It was horrible, not being able to see more than a few centimetres in front of her face; when she looked down, the bubble stretched enough to allow her to see the black sand beneath her feet, but no more. All manner of beasts could be lurking in the dark depths, watching her descend blindly towards them and waiting eagerly with open jaws. she stopped still. If she went any further without some sort of guidance, she would be lost for sure. The Dark Ocean was endless, and Ken could be anywhere within it. Then she knew what to do. In her right hand, she held up Yolei's digivice. The tiny screen glowed red, brighter and brighter. and then dimmed again. She looked closely at it. It was blank, except for a small pink arrow and an even smaller green dot. They were on opposite sides of the screen. She sighed - it was obvious what these represented. Just to test it, she turned through a right angle to the left. The arrow turned exactly the same way, at the same speed. She turned to the right; so did the arrow. In this way, she managed to make the arrow point in the direction of the green dot. She looked up. The Ocean in this direction looked no different to any other way. But she steeled her nerves and pressed on, trusting to Yolei's love for the Evil Emperor. She did not know how long she spent walking through near complete darkness, but to her it seemed like a lifetime. Step after step, all the same, never the slightest change of scenery. And then, finally, her eyes widened. She held her breath, hardly daring to hope. there was a green light shining ever so faintly through the gel-like solidity of the water. Kari hastened forward, almost running through the strange blackness. and then, at last, she entered a breathing-space. A bubble big enough for two people, and now two people there were, though one was standing and the other. fallen. It glowed green with pink swirls, and she stood for a minute, just enjoying the space - though there was hardly any of it - and surveying the scene. Right in the middle of it, lying cloaked in strange shadow, was Ken. "Ken, wake up!" Kari tried to say, but no words came out. She struggled even to make a noise; but just as if she was underwater, no sound emanated from her open mouth. This was a new panic-factor, but she kept her cool when she remembered the danger her friends were in, and she knelt down and got to work, patting Ken trying to wake him. Nothing seemed to work. Suddenly, she realised - how obvious! How could she have missed it? She picked up Yolei's digivice, and Davis' too just for luck, felt in her pocket for her own. and then, feeling like a thieving bandit, dug around in Ken's pocket. Sure enough, there it was - she pulled it out and gazed at it. It was pure black, as dark and evil as anything she'd ever seen. Carefully, she laid it on the ground, and then put Davis and Yolei's digivices on either side of it. Finally, she held out her own. At first, nothing happened. But then, a pure ray of bright light shot from her digivice. It collided directly over Ken's with an orange ray from Davis' digivice and a red ray from Yolei's. As one bright ray like a sunbeam of hope, they merged and twisted down, straight into the black digivice. The digivice was, for a moment, surrounded by light. A tremendous force crackled in the air; it was so tense that Kari thought she felt her hair going static. Then the object exploded. It shattered into a million pieces of darkness surrounded by light, filling their air bubble with a light so intense it made her eyes hurt. When next she dared to look, there were all four digivices - pink, red, blue. and a slightly smaller one with a purple backing and green decorations. Beside the pile, Ken stirred and sat up. His eyes snapped open. "No!" His mouth formed in a silent scream. Then he looked about him, saw Kari, saw the swirling darkness surrounding them, saw the digivices. He tried to say something more, but Kari was no great lip-reader. She beckoned to him to follow, and started walking back the way she had come. at least, the way she thought she had come. maybe it was this way instead. she turned back to Ken, trying to keep a look of panic off her face. He thought for a moment, then stood and took out her digivice. He held it out in front of them; nothing happened, so he gave it to her. She copied him, and a blast of searing light spread out from the screen, a line as tall and as wide as they were, going perfectly straight, parting the water for them. There was no time to lose - her friends were in trouble as long as she and Ken were still down here. She set off, running down the causeway lit up for them. Behind her, Ken faltered, an expression of great pain crossing his face; but then he ran on determinedly, though clutching his chest. The light flickered, just once at first, but then rapidly, more and more. Kari sprinted up the slope, not daring to stop and catch her breath or even to wait for Ken - it was now or never. At last, the beam was shortening, no longer her height but shorter! This could mean only one thing - the surface! Eagerly, she pushed herself as hard as she could go, as fast as her legs could run. and at that moment, the light went out. SPLASH! Kari's head broke the surface, emerging into glorious light and air and space. but even now, when she would happily have crawled to land and lay there for hours, she remembered the urgency of the situation. Where was Ken? She frantically reached into the water, waving her hand this way and that, the water parting before it. at last the gap around her arm broadened. She immeresed herself fully once more, straining to find. there! She caught hold of Ken's hand, tugged upwards, pulled him through the utter blackness. Finally, the two of them emerged into the dim light - even this amount was enough to make Ken blink and squint. They took deep breaths of air, surveying the boundlessness around them not with dread, as usual, but with relief. So much space and fresh air and light! Light.  
  
And Kari slowly opened her eyes. Soft rays of white light slanted down, pure, beautiful light, gentle moonlight. She was surrounded by Nefertimon's warm, furry body, her downy wings laid protectively over her. She wanted desperately to stay, it was so secure and beautiful. but she had to find out if it had worked. "You OK?" asked Nefertimon. Kari smiled, speechless, and nodded wearily. "Don't worry," said the sphinx soothingly, "we have all the time we need. It has worked, I can feel it. At dawn, we will return to the dumpsite; for now, if you do not rest you will fall off my back. Besides, the others will need their sleep as much as you do. and I think Yolei and Ken need to spend a little time on their own. She should hear the tale from him before you." Kari grinned faintly, then instantly dropped back against the soft white fur behind her. Nefertimon watched fondly over her while she slept, but when the first glimmers of dawn showed over the horizon, she lay her head on her huge armoured paws and joined her partner. 


	10. Chapter 9

In the deep, deep blackness, the blackness of the void, 'neath the parched, thirsting lands where no thing remains free. the Dark Lord glared suspiciously at a screen. It showed a sandy beach with lapping waves and sunny skies. Above was a forest on a hill, and it was this he was watching. Somehow those kids were still free, and still alive. He growled thoughtfully - they were an annoyance and a puzzle, but they offered no threat. They were on the wrong side of the ocean. For now, he was attending the testing of his new Dark Gems, of which he was very proud. One thing angered him, though - his Evil Emperor had been dispatched on a mission to at last capture the original Digidestined, and had not yet come back. The Dark Lord uttered a high-pitched, shrill, painful grow to the ears, like a cat in pain. Soon, he would have the correct formula. And when that fateful moment came, he wanted those Digidestined.  
  
Chapter 9 - Lost at sea  
  
"Hey guys, I think I see something up ahead!" said Falmon excitedly. Leviomon broke off his happy babbling to join her. "Hm, yes, I think I see a glimmer up ahead, look KT!" He beckoned to his partner and the others, who approached at their own pace. "Look look, can you see through there, a kind of glitter through the trees? I'm hungry!" In his usual manner, he suddenly switched to something completely different. KT peered through the treetrunks - the digimon were right, there was something sparkling up ahead. As she caught sight of it, she felt a strange energy flow through her briefly, invigorating and refreshing. "Ooooh, I know what it is, feel that!" Leviomon cried. Kittamon trotted up to them, sniffed the air, twitched her whiskers, waved her tails. Aramon walked beside her. "I don't feel anything," she said. Kittamon closed her eyes then opened them again. "Nope, me neither," she said with absolute certainty. Falmon shook her head. "What is it, then, Leviomon?" Asked Paul. "None of us can feel it, and I can't even see it." "It's water! Yay! I can't wait to go swimming for the first time, hunting small fish digimon, watching out for big fish digimon, diving in the waves." Leviomon had scampered ahead, and his voice echoed faintly up to them as he disappeared into the thinning trees. KT laughed and followed - she wasn't so sure about diving, but she was definitely keen to join in any swimming.  
  
KT stopped still, mouth open in a delighted grin. She had reached a low cliff, more of a sand dune, with steep, sandy slopes running down to a golden beach below. The sun was shining brightly, and a gentle breeze stirred the long dunegrass around her bare legs. She giggled at its tickling touch.  
Strains of laughter floated down to her, and she turned around. just in time to see Mossmon, Kittamon and Aramon racing each other down the hill. She laughed at the sight of Jake, Falmon and the others frantically waving their arms and jumping up and down to caution their digimon about the drop. or wait a minute.  
Too late, she realised that in fact they were cautioning her about the drop, and about the digimon careering down the hill at top speed towards her! Aramon tried to stop, but Kittamon tripped over her, and they both went flying into Mossmon, who was gliding just above the ground. All three of them tumbled helplessly into KT, and they all went sliding and rolling down the dune.  
The world was full of sand! Whirling, getting in mouth, nose, ears, clothes. sliding down, completely out of control! KT tried to fling herself away, but was tangled up with the digimon, and so just keep on falling. Jake and Falmon were the first to reach the clifftop, out of breath and anxious; though Breddy, Ali and Paul were not far behind. Ben toddled along as fast as he could, but could not really keep up with the older kids. There were a few seconds of calling down to the gold heap that was the digimon and KT, then at last their fears were forgotten. A pile of sand was shaking, and it erupted into a sand-caked KT, laughing and coughing alternately, standing like some sort of sand monster. Around her Kittamon, Aramon and Mossmon struggled out the sand, where they had been totally buried, and shook themselves off sheepishly.  
Jake smiled, then laughed out loud. He exchanged a sly glance with Falmon, who gasped in alarm, then recovered herself and winked broadly.  
With a loud, yodelling yell that echoed for miles (or so KT assumed), he and Falmon took a running leap, soaring over the edge of the cliff, laughed and screaming at the same time. Ben chuckled with amusement, and lowered himself on to his rear to slide down as if on a sledge. Paul looked at Breddy and Ali, raising his eyebrows. They shook their heads and smiled wryly, walking around to a place where it was a little less steep.  
KT felt like she couldn't move, she was so covered in sand. All she could do was watch in horror as the screaming, flailing forms grew larger and larger, rolling toward her. Not again, she thought dismally.  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Leviomon had managed to persuade them all to join him in the sea. It was icy cold, but the sun was so warm that they didn't mind. KT and Jake dived in gladly, washing themselves all over to get rid of the sand plastered onto them. Jake even tried gargling with the salt water to clean out his mouth; KT watched him splutter in disgust, and decided to give that particular experience a miss.  
Kittamon, Mossmon and Falmon were stretched out in the sun. None of them liked water, indeed Falmon loathed it. But they watched lazily as their friends played in the sea, gaining much amusement from their antics.  
The humans were as clumsy in water as they were on land, though KT was a graceful swimmer. They splashed each other and played Shark, diving underwater to creep up on an unsuspecting victim. Aramon was no great swimmer, but she still enjoyed doggy-paddling in the surf. Leviomon, though, simply stole the show, leaping and twirling, diving far down to shoot out of the water and spray them all, using the flat of his tail blade to sent miniature tidal waves over the human's heads. KT would sometimes lunge down trying to catch him by the tail as he glided past; but she never could, and he would then leap onto her from behind to duck her.  
Falmon envied him, in a way - she more than just hated water, she was terrified of it. As she was a fire digimon, this made sense. Water had even been known to kill certain fire digimon in the past. Still, she couldn't help but wish, just then, that she was a water digimon too.  
She sighed and turned away, squinting over the waves. Predictably enough, far off to her right was a dark cloud, full of swirling shapes and mysterious shadows.  
"Ben?" She called, looking around for the toddler. He had been playing in the waves, but even as she said his name he was walking towards her. He gave her an enquiring look, sticking his sandy, salty thumb into his mouth. She grimaced in disgust, then asked him: "Is that where the Dark Lord is?" She pointed to the cloud with a long, black claw. Ben followed her gaze, then shook his head. She frowned; he turned and pointed, in all sincerity, to the left. Falmon sighed in confusion. KT seemed to think this kid had powers of navigation; but where he was indicating was nothing whatsoever, except lapping waves and a bright, hot sun. "Never mind," she said wearily, and lay back down for a doze.  
  
The sky had turned a delicate shade of orange-rose, when Leviomon, KT, Jake and Ali finally emerged from the sea (Aramon, Breddy and Paul had crawled out half an hour ago). They flopped on the sand, panting, beside their friends - all but Leviomon, who slid up to them like a serpent, and curled up comfortably, for once too tired and happy to talk.  
"Now wait a minute," Jake said. KT groaned - he was going to be Responsible. He glared at her. "I know we're all pretty pooped, but before we go to sleep we need to figure out our plans for tomorrow. I.e., we need to decide which way to go." As one, they all turned and looked at the bank of dark clouds over the land mass on the right. Falmon kept quiet. Leviomon twitched his tail in agreement, his eyes half-closed. "Big, black clouds, rumbling thunder, gotta be the Dark Lord. I like the sea. It's very wet. I love swimming, do." he yawned, and, unable to stay awake any longer, closed his eyes. Breddy rolled her eyes. "Phewf! Now that's a relief!" She said gladly. KT let out a squeal of outrage, but before she could advance Jake intervened. "Come on, it's too late in the evening to fight. Are we all agreed?" He waved his arm in the direction of the clouds. There was a unanimous: "Yes!" And then, quiet but firm, there was, "No." KT looked down. It was Ben, obstinately facing out to sea, to the left. She sighed - it was a difficult situation. "Look, Ben, I know you have a good sense of direction, but. sometimes, we all make mistakes, yeah?" She followed his stubborn gaze. "There's nothing out there but ocean. I think we should trust our instincts on this one." Even as she said it, she felt it was wrong. Her instincts were screaming otherwise. Ben looked at her with his big, deep blue eyes, and she knew in her heart she believed him. But. at the same time, there was nothing out there. And how were they to travel across water anyway? She shook her head and turned away.  
"He'll see sense in the morning," she said to the others, not quite able to look them in the eye. Leviomon was watching her intently from beneath lids that appeared closed, but had really left a slit open. Jake nodded. "Now let's get some rest."  
  
They were woken by Jake and Falmon prodding each of them and yelling, "Come on, you lazy lot! Get up, we have to keep moving!" KT groaned as Jake nudged her. Through blurry eyes, she saw that the sun had not quite risen yet. With an exhausted moan, she fell back on the sand. "Hey, we've got a world to save, here. KT, at this rate, we're all doomed!" She sat up and gave Jake a Look, at which he merely grinned and put his arm around her. "I know, it's tough, playing in water. hey!" KT had elbowed him, and now stood up with a "Humph!".  
It was not long, though, before they were all up and whining about the terrible hollowness inside their stomachs. KT felt hers gingerly; it growled. "Ugh." She said. To say any more would cost too much valuable nutrition energy. "So. hungry." Paul croaked. This reminded KT of water, if possible something which she was even more desperate for than food. She licked her parched lips and looked at Jake, who was already beginning to trudge off to the cloud bank. "Wait," she called, turning to Leviomon. "Leviomon, do you think you could feel fresh water?" He nodded. "Of course! Why, there's a stream near here, if you want to go there. I can see white horses." KT looked vaguely around to see what was distracting him - the waves were rougher today, and their crests did indeed resemble leaping, frothing white horses. Her gaze was for some reason caught by these unearthly beasts of imagery, and for a moment her heart stopped. Recognition? Understanding? Longing? She did not know the feelings that flooded her mind in that instant, but in the next second they were gone, and she turned back to Leviomon. "Where? A stream? Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" She exploded, her voice cracking with the dryness of her throat. Leviomon shrugged. "You didn't ask."  
The sand was hard to walk through, especially back over the huge dunes. Every step KT took, she seemed to sink back two steps. By the time they reached the other side, she felt like falling onto the grassy ground and kissing it for its firmness. But she didn't, which was just as well, because it was still covered with patches of sand here and there, and anyway it's not a good idea to kiss ground. Leviomon trotted ahead, still chattering merrily to Falmon, who walked beside him. KT noticed that they were actually going only just slightly to the right of the way they had come, and wished again that Leviomon had brought this up previously.  
The stream, when they found it, was cool and clear. It tasted disgusting, especially as none of them had had any food for a while; but still KT plunged her head into it and gulped down vast mouthfuls. Leviomon and Aramon splashed about in it briefly, but Jake did not give the gang much time before announcing they were off again, and starting back on the trail. "Um. aren't we going. that way?" Ali said timidly, pointing to the clouds. Jake turned pink. "Oh yes. Ahem. That would be the way." They all laughed, and walked after him. All except for Ben. "No, no! Tha' way!" He cried angrily. KT sighed. "Ben." Breddy turned around in frustration. "KT, this is getting silly. We're going this way. If he doesn't want to, he seems to be able to find his own way back, I'm sure." KT was torn between her friends and. well, and this complete stranger.  
At that moment, Mossmon called down to them from where he was gliding. "Guys, I think you ought to take a look at this!" Jake craned his neck. "What is it, Mossmon?" The green digimon flapped back to the beach in answer. Jake ground his teeth - they were moving backwards and forwards, and by the time they walked to where Mossmon was hovering they would have spent nearly the entire morning getting back to where they started. There had better be a good reason for this, he thought bitterly.  
  
There was. KT saw it from the top of the dunes, glinting at the water's edge. With wide eyes, she hurried down the slope sideways like a crab in order to keep her balance. Once at the bottom, she sprinted across the sands, Leviomon beside her, hoping the tide would not carry it away. At last, gasping for breath, she bent down and picked it up. Leviomon sniffed it, and recoiled in disgust. "It's a precious stone of some sort!" She called breathlessly to Jake, who was pounding toward her. He gently took it and weighed it in his hand. "This thing's probably very valuable," he said. KT nodded, lost for words at the sight of it. "It's so pretty." It was a dark, shiny, obsidian black, about the size of an egg but flatter. In shone brightly in the sunlight, gleaming wetly even though it felt dry. Falmon stroked it gingerly. "Indeed, this is no ordinary stone," she said. There was a tone of darkness in her voice that made Jake ask, "What do you mean?" Leviomon answered for her. "This stone has a smell, an air, of darkness and great evil around it," he said gravely. "It can only have come from one being." "The Dark Lord." KT nodded. Leviomon's eyes grew large and his mouth fell open in sudden realisation. "But. that means. Ben!" He trilled, looking around for the boy. Ben appeared from right behind him, though how he got there was anyone's guess. He stared at the blue stone, then looked out to sea. And then he smiled broadly. "Excuse me, but could someone explain what is going on here?" KT said. Leviomon began, eager for an excuse to talk with everybody actually listening. "It's the currents, you see. This gem must have come from wherever the Dark Lord is based. But it could not have got around that peninsula over there - the currents go off to one side. Therefore, it did not come from where we thought the Dark Lord is. In fact."- he dipped his tail in the lapping waves- ".it came from across the sea, where Ben said we should go." KT gaped first at him, then at the small boy now standing with a quietly satisfied smile on his face. "Tol' ya so," he said.  
  
It was agreed that they would go across the sea by raft; KT would ride ahead on Mermon to scout out any trouble. Falmon was not at all keen on the plan, but there was no other way - too many of them could not fly or were not strong-winged enough. So Mossmon digevolved into Wodemon, and soon felled three trees with his powerful fists. He then snapped all the branches off and broke their trunks in half, making six smooth logs that the kids could work with. Zappamon ranged over long distances to find suitable vines, doing so in a notably short time. Amparamon used her metal horns to shape four spare branches for crude paddles; Oramon used flame to liquefy sap and varnish the underside of their raft. The humans used the vines to tie it all together, using half-forgotten skills they had learned years ago at scout clubs.  
Finally, KT stood back and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She gazed at their creation in admiration. It was easily big enough to carry all eleven of them (though not with the digimon in Champion forms), and sturdy enough to outlast a storm (though how many people would be left clinging onto it by the end was up to them). It was already beginning to get dark, and Jake had decided to camp there for the night. They were to set off at first light the next morning, fair weather or foul.  
"I would suggest taking supplies, but we don't have any," she said, a little downcast. Ali shook her head. "No, but we should still take some spare vine - that's always useful. And we'll have to figure out a way of carrying water from that stream, too." Aramon scratched her head thoughtfully - she had de-digevolved when her task was done. Transporting water without any waterproof material? Now that would be tricky.  
  
As it happened, the next day dawned bright and clear, with barely a breeze skimming the water. The gang took heart in this, and with the help of Mermon launched their raft into the tiny breakers. KT thanked the Digital World for giving her tight clothing, and sat astride Mermon's neck, holding on to his horned helmet. Falmon insisted Jake carry her aboard the raft, but the others - excepting Mossmon - waded out to it. KT helped Ben scramble up onto the thick logs, and then Jake, Ali, Breddy and Paul each grabbed a paddle. They set out with a new determination and hope in their hearts, in the spirit of saving the world.  
  
"Hold on tight," Mermon said to KT. She gripped his horns excitedly. Then they were off, at a speed KT had never been at before, riding the gentle waves with an invigorating, rocking motion. "Normally, I would travel underwater," said Mermon. "But I think you would find that a little hard to breathe. I like swimming this way, anyway - it's fun." KT nodded. She preferred this to the way a motorboat ploughed through waves - here, they were moving with them, leaving barely a trace behind them. KT looked back - the others were far behind, and diminishing rapidly. She waved, nearly falling off as Mermon sailed from the peak of a wave and crashed back down in the trough. They were briefly underwater, but this did not slow down the digimon in the slightest, and they were in the air again on the next wave. The sea was getting rougher. KT spluttered as they came up. "Mermon, why are we going so far ahead?" "I've got a feeling there's more to the story of that stone than we know!" Mermon replied grimly. "It stank of restriction, captivity, control. Also of a water digimon of some sort. I would very much like to find and meet this water digimon - it would, I think, reveal many hidden answers to our questions." KT thought about this, then frowned determinedly. She could not remotely sense any of these things on the stone, but she trusted her partner.  
  
By mid-afternoon, even Jake was beginning to tire. Falmon had taken over from Paul, but the other digimon could not hold an oar properly, and Ben was not strong enough. Jake gazed up at the sun, wiping sweat from his eyes to do so. It was a white-hot fireball, radiating merciless heat, the clouds growing ever thinner.  
  
A lone seabird digimon wheeled high above the water. It cried just once; then sailed away. The heat was too much for it.  
Below, the sea was glassy and almost completely still. A log raft floated on the spot. There was no land nor clouds nor other digimon in sight - and the horizon was a long way off.  
It was two days since the raft had set out from the shore. Two days with no food and no drink, in the baking heat, surrounded by salt water.  
Five kids and four digimon lay sprawled on the raft. They looked almost dead - in fact, had it not been too hot even for scavengers, they would have probably been eaten as carrion. But one of them still had his eyes half-open.  
He was Jake, and he was listlessly watching Ben. The child's blue- grey hair lay flat and lifeless on his head - all of their hair had grown longer and stragglier without shampoo or comb, just salty air and water. He didn't know why he was watching Ben, but he was. Perhaps it was his lifeline - if he didn't focus on something, he would become completely out of focus, in a private reverie, like the others. The paddles had been lost the day before, when they passed through a patch of rougher water.  
And then, one of Ben's eyes opened. Just halfway at first, but then both eyes opened all the way, revealing the bright, sapphire-blue intensity beneath. Jake felt unable to move his cracked lips to speak, so continued to watch. Ben propped himself up on stubby arms, looking dazed and uncertain. He peered out to sea - Jake followed his gaze. Nothing. or was there?  
At first, it was just a dark splodge, a speck growing. larger, but so gradually that Jake wouldn't have noticed if there wasn't nothing else to concentrate on. But grow it did, until it split into three splodges - one big one and two little ones. He continued to watch them, and Ben managed to stand up. There was something moving on top of the biggest one. a person! Someone waving! Then Jake knew what it was. It was KT and Mermon, returned at last, and just in time. Overcome with fatigue but having seen this small miracle, he fell into the same deep dream that the others were in, and knew no more.  
  
He was woken by the most glorious method in any universe - the old cold-water-in-the-face. He gasped and opened his mouth wide, gulping down as much of it as possible. From above him there came a delighted giggle, then to his disappointment the water flow was stopped. Instead, something big, warm and laughing was thrust upon him. It was KT. "Jake, oh, thank goodness you're all right!" She cried into his shoulder, hugging him tightly. "I thought. when I saw you, and the others. the others!" And she rapidly regained her composure, standing up and helping Jake to shakily do the same. Jake looked around - Leviomon was depositing water from a plastic bottle over Falmon, who moaned and pushed it away. Two rugged, dolphin-like digimon were floating in the water nearby, watching with much interest. "Those are Dolphmon," said KT. "The stone came from one of them. I'll tell you in a bit." This made Jake eager to rouse the others - he was curious about the stone. Three more bottles lay on the raft. He and KT each grabbed one and splashed water over everyone else. Breddy tried to drink the remaining bottle, but Ali stopped her. "We don't know how long these have got to last," she pointed out. Breddy agreed miserably, and they shared between them the dregs of KT's bottle to drink. Falmon got them all seated in a circle, and KT explained. "Leviomon and Falmon were right - the stone was evil, and did come from the Dark Lord. So we are definitely going in the right direction. In fact, it was made by him. The Dark Lord wanted to create a new, improved version of Dark Rings - what he ended up with was this. He had made lots of them, and though he has used them on digimon like Dolphmon here, he has yet to try them out for their more ambitious purpose." She paused for breath. "The theory behind them indicates that one is used on digimon and human partner. From then on, they are controlled by the Dark Lord, and can duo-digevolve." "What's that?" Asked Paul. "The human digevolving with the digimon to form a new digimon, a new level, stronger than Ultimate and maybe even Mega. And that digimon is under the Dark Lord's control as long as the Dark Gem is fixed to it. These Dolphmon do not know much more, but they have heard rumours that the Dark Lord already has several human-digimon pairs in captivity, but does not wish to waste Dark Gems on them while they would still not be missed when they went back home. Something about forged authorised absences back in our world. He's looking for kids that made their own way here, that already are missed. Kids like us." There was silence. Then Jake said, "Well then, what we have to do is clear. He must be stopped, and fast! Dolphmon, can you pull us along, d'ythink?" "Yep, easy!" "Use that vine, we can't just use our teeth, you know!" They answered cheerily. Jake nodded. "Breddy, Ali, Paul, figure out how to attach the ropes to the raft. Make it firm! KT, we'll make the harnesses, and you can put them on." They all got straight to work, their thirst driving them if not the threat to their world and this one. Paul unravelled the vine, passing it to Ali, who had already found a way of tying it to the front of the raft, at the left side. On the right, Breddy mirrored the knot she used - they had to be in exactly the same place, or they would create drag. KT and Jake each worked on a simple harness, which was soon ready. It slipped over the Dolphmon's heads with no trouble, and there it stayed, once KT had tied the last knot. Paul threw the ropes to her that were fastened to the raft, and she deftly caught them and secured the Dolphmon. "OK, mush, gee up, a. whoa!" Jake was thrown off his feet in mid-command as the Dolphmon lashed their tails and tore away. He sat up and looked around in amazement - they were travelling as fast as a car on a freeway, ploughing straight through any waves that dared oppose them. KT had scrambled aboard just in time, and came to lean against him, worn out. Leviomon curled up at her feet, and Falmon followed his example - they would need some rest before long. Jake let out an exultant "Woohoo!" at their pace. At this rate, they would get there in no time at all.  
  
It was only two hours later when they reached their final destination. One minute, it was not there. the next, it was all around them. Great, black stone, turrets far above, eerie signs savagely carved into the walls. The sky was clouded over with darkness, like an eternal night. Far above, Airdramon soared, their harsh voices echoing down to the gang. Aramon cowered on the raft. "They'll see us for sure!" She wailed. The Dolphmon shook their heads. "No, they can't. We came in the back way. The Dark Lord probably assumed you died out on the ocean. He won't know we're here until it's too late." They turned back to the channel, swimming slower now. KT gulped. "Too late for him. or for us?" She whispered to Jake.  
The Dolphmons found them a cave to shelter in - they all needed to rest, and it was only now that they were here that they realised they had no plan whatsoever for actually defeating the Dark Lord.  
  
The rain fell in squalling sheets, lashing into rock, earth and KT. Her teeth chattered, her skin shivered, her numb fingers barely held on to Mermon. They had volunteered for a reconnoitring mission, to scout out the waters around the Fortress. The weather had, admittedly, been better then; but the main reason she had wanted to go was because of the atmosphere back in the cave. They had debated, talked, argued, thought, and almost fought over what to do now they were here. Clearly, they had not included this in their plans (if they actually had any plans, which KT was beginning to doubt). The Fortress was huge, with no way of getting into it except the front gate, patrolled by digimon evil in their very nature - no Dark Rings could be broken from these. Even once inside, they did not know where the Dark Lord was hiding, and six human kids and their rookie digimon were rather obvious in a place like that. It had made sense, then, to go out and perhaps try and find another way in.  
But now, all KT wanted was to get into somewhere warm and dry. And that was why, when Mermon sensed the underwater cave, she absolutely refused to accompany him down there. "Mermon, I'm freezing, I'm wet, I'm gonna get pneumonia if I stay out here much longer. I'm not diving into an even more freezing, wet. arrghglb." Another wave broke over her head, drenching her in yet more icy saltwater. She groaned miserably and leaned over Mermon's neck, wrapping her arms around him and trying to shelter behind his horns. Mermon had been gradually sinking down, and now, grinning broadly, he shot into the air, doing a beautiful arc in the wild waves. KT clung on grimly, barely visible as she flattened herself against him. And then they were beneath the waves, fearsome currents trying to drag her from her partner, water making her brown hair flow behind her like a mermaid's - only mermaids didn't have their eyes tightly shut, and their hand pinching their nose. KT had always had this problem with diving, and it meant that Mermon had to use his own arm to steady her and hold her on; but seawater up one's nose, as you probably know, is not at all pleasant. Gradually, the waves grew less, and the light got virtually non-existent. KT was bursting for breath. Air! She thought. Mermon, have you forgotten I can't breathe underwater like you? I need AIR! Still the water streamed past her body, numbing her all over. and then they were going up, up. and KT exploded out, her lungs filling with glorious air, her hair plastered over her face so she couldn't see. She felt hard stone beneath her back, and sat up, inhaling as much air as possible. When she swept her hair to one side, she saw Leviomon standing before her. "Come on, come on," he said, "we're in now, look! It's the Fortress, a small hole, I don't know why it even exists - but still, very convenient!" KT stared at him. "How on earth are Jake and the others going to get through?" she wheezed, still getting her breath back. Leviomon tutted and chuckled. "They won't have to, we're here to find out about this place! We can explore the area, it's warm and dry look, try to find out where the Dark Lord's located." "Then I suppose we could try flying to wherever he is, or something," KT said. She looked at the deep pool of dark water they had come from. Going back out there was not an appealing thought. She stood up, watching the water fall from her like lots of miniature waterfalls, and trickle down to the pool. They were in a small cave, and there was light. Hmm. It had to be coming from somewhere. there! A hole in the wall, just big enough for her to crawl through if she lay on her belly. She sighed - at least she couldn't get much dirtier.  
She had been wrong, she decided. She was sliding along on her belly, and the tunnel seemed to be getting lower and lower. At least the wetness helped her move smoothly. Leviomon was having no trouble, slithering along like a lizard and chattering happily as he went. "Couldn't half do with some food, seafood would be good. Unless it had prawns in it. Hmm, it seems to be getting lighter, don't you think? Hah, I think I see the end of the tunnel! Light at the end of the tunnel, where did that expression come from I wonder? Smells disgusting. Evil, darkness, menace. Dark Lord, he's close. Hey, I reckon - rumph-" KT had managed to slide forward and clamp her hands around his jaws. If the Dark Lord was near, the last thing she wanted was for him to hear Leviomon announcing their entry.  
The light was not bright - it came from a burning torch several metres away from the tunnel entrance - but to KT, who had been in utter blackness underwater, it was fine for seeing by. She squeezed out of the tunnel, dusted herself off (rather pointlessly, since she was still dripping wet), and looked around at her surroundings. This did not take long - it was another tunnel, but a proper one this time. Then she noticed Leviomon's voice - it had stopped, and she wasn't holding him any more. "Leviomon?" She said, and looked around. He was not there. "Leviomon!" she called. There was an ominous silence. Then a gnarled claw clamped down on her shoulder. "Whatchu doin' round 'ere?" A gruff voice demanded. She turned around, stifling a scream. It was a tall, lanky, evil-looking digimon - Skullsatamon, a powerful and feared creature.. Her eyes strayed to what he was holding, and she felt sick. He had Leviomon slung over his shoulder, and was carrying the unconscious digimon by the tail. Hurriedly, she turned back to the digimon. "I, uh. orders from, um." "Whass yer name, human?" "KT," she said. There could be no harm in it at least calling her by her true name. "Who d'ye serve?" The digimon grunted, trying to catch her out. "The Dark Lord," she said, thinking fast. It was the wrong answer. He roared in anger and triumph, shouting: "Hurhur! Do y'now? I serve the Master, but. I guess thass just me!" She turned and tried to run, but didn't even get a step before Skullsatamon swung his heavy fist, and the world went black. 


	11. Chapter 10

In the deep, deep blackness, the blackness of the void, 'neath the parched, thirsting lands where no thing remains free. The Dark Lord was, for the first time in a long while, in a good mood. He was in his favourite chamber again, looking at the beast that would win him his worlds - along with the Digidestined he was bound to catch eventually. Though he would never have admitted it, those kids in this world had been beginning to worry him. But the last he had seen of them, they had been dead at sea. Ha, there were none left to oppose him now, and even if there were, his army was stronger than ever.  
  
Chapter 10 - The Beast  
  
It was not completely dark. The light of one Gloflymon, dangling from the ceiling in a crystal prison, faintly illuminated the room. It was small - a few square metres at most - and was rocky and uneven. On one wall was a heavy, barred door; on the other various sets of chains and manacles hung from the wall. It was, in every way, clearly a dungeon of the Dark Lord.  
Tai opened one eye. It didn't hurt much, so he opened the other. Hmm. A lot of rock. He blinked. The skin on his chest hurt tremendously. Somehow he felt slightly. different. Oh, but maybe that was it - he was lying on his back. Slowly, for he was stiff and bruised, he eased himself into a sitting position. Something clinked behind him; he felt around his neck and there, sure enough, was a metal loop fixed - on quite a short chain too, he noted indignantly - to the wall. His fingers felt big and clumsy, but then he supposed he had been through the wars of late. Then he happened to glance down at his hand.  
It was orange. It was huge. Three enormous claws protruded from his fingers - the skin was tough and slightly scaly. He knew that hand well enough, but certainly wasn't used to it belonging to him. Memories came rushing back, so thick and fast that he could not concentrate on any particular one. Pinned. bruised.angry, let me fight! Monsters all around. a reptilian roar. and then all he knew was the shining gemstone. "A pathetic result," a voice growled. He wanted to scream, so terrible was the sound of that voice. Sibilant, gruff, soft but menacing; and right above him. "All you idiots have achieved is to switch the minds and bodies around. Do they look like one being?" A thud, and whine of pain. "Do they look more powerful in any way than before? The Crimson, you fools, the Crimson! A waste of a good Gem." A warm, almost hot bolt of energy as something was held over his chest. "However, I will keep it for record. and for entertainment. Take it below. Report to me immediately afterwards." At last, the deep, threatening voice was gone. a grunt of acknowledgement from something beside him, and he was back into oblivion.  
Tai looked sadly at himself now. Yes, he remembered. They had voluntarily entered the Digital World, leaving no backup behind them. They were the test subjects the Dark Lord wanted. It had not worked out quite as the formula predicted - at least, he supposed, he was not a slave to the Dark Lord - but instead, he was in Agumon's digimon body, and Agumon... He peered into the gloom opposite him, and saw a boy with wild brown hair and a thoroughly tattered school uniform, barely recognisable as such. Himself. Or rather. "Agumon?" He said. His voice was young and high compared to what he had grown used to. Tentatively, he reached out and prodded the human with a long claw. Suddenly, Agumon was awake, yelling as he was woken up unexpectedly. Tai watched him look around nervously, calming down in the silence - until he caught sight of the digimon. "Agumon!" He cried. Then his brow creased. "But I'm Agumon." He clapped a hand to his mouth, only to remove it and stare at it. Pale-skinned, delicate fingers; no claws. Realisation - and probably memory - slowly dawned on his face. He looked at Tai. "So you're. Tai, right? In my body," he said. Tai nodded, an easy movement for such a large head on such a small neck. It was strange - it seemed like he was talking to himself. "At least you two get your own body, even if it's not the one you're used to," said a voice from the darkness. It was the strangest noise - like two people speaking in perfect unison, people Tai thought he knew. There was a soft clink of chain links, and a digimon stepped into the light.  
It was vaguely dog-like, with a few major differences. Its back legs, though white as the rest of it, were feathered, ending in scaly bird- talons. It had huge, feathery ears and a tail like a rooster's. A few broad, purple stripes decorated its forelegs and back; one crossed its left eye roguishly. Four miniature wings sprouted from its shoulderblades - Tai doubted it could actually fly. "It's me," it said in its dual voice. Tai stared at it - or rather, him. "Matt?" He asked. "And me", the digimon said. Somehow, Matt and Gabumon were in the same body. And Tai had a feeling he was catching on to this. "Nabu? Thir? C'mon out, we're all freaks here." "Speak for yourself," Nabu's frank voice emerged a second before Caprimon did. "Caprimon, it's you!" Agumon said in delight. "But then, where's Nabu?" Caprimon raised a critical eyebrow. In answer to his query, she asked one of her own. "So, do you, like, have a name? Other than Gabumattmon, which I know is just too original." Tai gaped, a highly expressive gesture for such a big jaw. She spoke with Nabu's voice, making it quite clear what had happened. The Dark Gem's theory had worked. sort of. Megmon had digevolved, and Nabu had joined her.  
The ice digimon stirred and provided an answer to her question. "Yes, I have a name. It's Feninermon. I made it up while I was waiting for someone to do something. Do you. what was that?" They all stared in silence with pricked ears. Just as Tai impatiently opened his mouth to speak again, they all heard a smooth hrrrissst as of metal sliding on smooth metal. It was coming from the only remaining dark corner. The gang exchanged glances - though it was probably Thir, Lyomon or both in some form or other, there was no telling what the Dark Lord might have created through them. For the first time so far, Tai felt more secure in his new body - now, although he was admittedly smaller, he had long claws, big teeth and a Pepperbreath attack. He stepped forward aggressively, looking much braver than he felt. A low growl issued from the gloom, and the dim light glittered over golden blades and white teeth. A pair of wild orange eyes lit up. and the creature sprang straight over Tai's head, landing squarely in the centre of the room, a chain at full stretch behind it. They had just enough time to see that it stood on its hind legs and came almost up to Agumon's human shoulder, before a solid beam of green leather came flying out of no-where and hit it full in the chest. Nabucaprimon had swung her tail; the new digimon went sailing back where it had come from. There was a thump, followed by another and a rattle of chains. They all stared. At length, it emitted a resentful noise between a growl and a whine. "Nabucaprimon, did you have to? You could at least have given me time to howl." It was a "she", with a growly voice at a high pitch, a voice highly reminiscent of Lyomon's. "Thir? Lyomon? Is that you?" Feninermon asked warily. The strange digimon was still muttering, though, and paid him no attention. "Give me bruises for weeks, that will. and there was I, tryin' to give 'em a nice surprise. calls herself me friend, hah! Worst enemy, more like. oh wait, that is what she calls herself." "Hey you, whoever you are! Come on out so we can see you!" Tai called, tired of all this. Nabucaprimon was sniggering quietly. There was a shuffling and a clinking, and the digimon finally stepped out.  
Her hind legs (on which she stood) were large, with huge claws, and something like knee-pads designed for dogs with spikes at the back. A huge, fluffy brush of a tail swished behind her. Her face was like no animal Tai knew, but possibly similar to a panther cub's or ferret's, with fairly short ears trailing behind her. Grey fur covered most of her body, except for a creamy belly, nose, ear- and tail-tips; dark red stripes streaked across her face, back, forearms and legs, including three across her right eye. "The name's Slashmon," she said, holding up one hand. In it, and the other, she grasped sets of thin, golden blades which protruded between her fingers like metal claws. These, it seemed, were her namesake.  
The impressive silence was broken by Nabucaprimon snorting with laughter. "Oh, and that's just so original, that is!" she giggled. Slashmon glared at her - she was ruining all the best bits. Hastily, Tai interjected. "So, if you're Slashmon. where are Thir and Lyomon? And where did you come from?" Slashmon gazed thoughtfully at her claws before answering. "I bin thinking about that. I kinda remember some bits, and I reckon I am what Lyomon and Thir became, like. I guess it's the closest the Dark Lord's come t' the effect he wanted - out of us four, anyways." She shivered at the memory of what had been said. "He was there," she said. "He was quite pleased with the result of the Gem. but he said I wuz too weak, and besides he wanted us under close observation, without Dark Gems - just t' see how powerful we was, an' how loyal, in our nat'ral state." Tai nodded - he remembered the voice saying something similar. But then there had been an interruption, and they were put down here temporarily. he frowned. They would have to move fast, if they were going to, before the Dark Lord moved them to keep a closer eye on them. "But what can we do?" He exclaimed out loud in frustration. "I don't even know if we can digevolve, and even if we could it's unlikely to work without our digivices and tags. I suppose I would need the crest of Courage to digevolve normally, but I don't know about you guys." "What is your Crest?" Feninermon asked Slashmon. "Freedom. Freedom an' Love," she said. She nodded pointedly at Nabucaprimon, who growled simply, "Independence, Sincerity." Tai wondered at this use of the Crest of Sincerity, for he had never seen or heard Nabu be remotely sincere; but he kept quiet. He and Feninermon felt left out, and not for the first time, with only one Crest apiece. There was a long, brooding silence as each individual became lost in their thoughts. At length, a determined scowl settled over Tai's dinosaur face. "This can't be the end. This isn't where our story trails off. We didn't even finish what we came to do." "All very well saying brave words, but do you actually have any bright ideas for getting us out?" Nabucaprimon, of course. They lapsed into another silence, this one shorter. It was broken by a soft clinking and clicking. Tai looked at Slashmon. She was using one of her long, thin metal claws to pick the lock on the chain around her neck. She winked at Feninermon as she did so, who scowled in reply. Matt had never been known for his sociability. Tai watched him carefully, and saw a slight smile spread across his face when Slashmon turned away again. Before long, the chain fell from her neck and clattered to the floor. "I've 'ad plenty o' practice wiv me spikes," she said, moving on to Feninermon. She meant her collars and wristbands, which often had complicated buckles and latches to undo without being able to see. "Just because you've got thin claws, doesn't mean you get to be smug about it," Feninermon said. She made a mock swipe at him, which he ducked to smartly bite her tail.  
Nabucaprimon had found escaping pretty simple - she was enjoying being a powerful dinosaur. To remove her chains she smashed then against the stone wall, using her body as leverage, neck first. After three tries they shattered, and she shook herself like a dog before advancing on Tai, a much smaller, orange version of herself. He stepped aside and gestured to the middle of his chain - she took the hint, and left him trailing a piece from his neck rather than smash him against the wall. Agumon used his clever human fingers, though he took a while to get used to them. "Now the door," said Feninermon when they were all free. Tai studied the solid object carefully - yes! A grille, roughly three square feet. He blasted it with a powerful Pepperbreath attack, glad to be of some use at last; the blackened remains teetered a moment longer before crashing to the ground. Slashmon winced at the noise they made - she was warier than the others, going more by instinct than courage. "Wait, wait." she stopped them on their way out of the hole - "what are we actually doing?" "Escaping, duh," said Nabucaprimon. Tai pondered, but it did not take him long to figure out an answer. "That creature, the thing that made the water quake. When we set the water digimon free", he explained to Feninermon and Slashmon. They had already discussed what each pair had been up to on their way round the Fortress, as the Evil Emperor rounded up his forces and reviewed the damage done (they had been satisfied to note that he had done so cringing and wailing at the thought of his Master's displeasure). "It was kept separately, but obviously was not happy about being there. I got a feeling, looking at the gates it was kept behind, that it was fairly valued. We'll set it free, and then." he shrugged. "We'll just have to see what happens."  
  
Tai's bright, large green eyes were the first things visible to any onlooker (though fortunately there were none), as he rounded the corner. It was almost completely dark - a single burning brand lit a long, gloomy corridor of stone. "It's all clear," he said to the darkness behind him, ambling out into the light. Agumon came to carry the torch, since it was designed for humanoid hands. Nabucaprimon followed him, and Slashmon and Feninermon prowled after, keeping uneasily to the shadows. The walls and floor were all of stone; but they were dry at least, an unusual luxury in fortress dungeons.  
It was not long before they came to the portcullis at the entrance - or from their situation, the exit - of the tunnel. Tai held up a claw, signalling them to stop still. They watched Slashmon, as she had the best sight and hearing of them. For nearly a minute, they waited in almost complete silence, listening until they felt like their beating hearts were the only noise in the world, and that it was not them standing still but everything else. When at last Tai moved, clinking his dangling chain, they all jumped a foot in the air. The force of their landing sent tremors through the floor.  
In a subdued silence they padded along, Tai leading them. He imagined he must look quite ridiculous - he was by far the smallest of them all, even Feninermon was taller than him, and he walked on four legs. For a long time, they saw no other digimon. Even once they had stumbled upon their first guard, a Vegiemon, Slashmon swiped him at lightening speed with each paw, and Feninermon took him by the throat. He was easily knocked out from there by a blow from Nabucaprimon's tail; Tai shot a Pepperbreath to keep him down. Vegiemon were tough, but the gang had had experience in this field. Still, from then on they proceeded more cautiously, anxious not to alert anyone of their presence and for that person to escape with the information.  
"I need to find the main courtyard," muttered Tai. "From there I should be able to work out where to go." It was a dreadful plan, and he knew it (the courtyard would be busy, so would the passages leading there, and as for the guarding on the cave of the beast.); but it could be improved as they went. Feninermon sniffed the air expertly. "That way," he said, gesturing to a small, dark doorway. It was barely noticeable - clearly, no-one had been that way in a long time. Slashmon looked dubiously up and down the passage; there were three other entrances, all much more frequented. She sniffed the air suspiciously. "No!" She barked triumphantly, "the courtyard's that way!" And she pointed with a golden blade. to a blank wall. Feninermon grinned, showing pearly white teeth. "You have a good nose. But you can only smell the direction things lie in. You can't sniff out the best way to get to them." He stalked off, showing for the first time a trace of smugness; leaving the others to follow, shaking their heads and smiling. Slashmon scowled after him, baring her long canines in a ferocious snarl. But at that moment a grunt echoed down the tunnel, and the faint clank of metal on stone. She swished her tail uneasily, and loped quickly to catch up with the others, who were already shrouded in darkness.  
Luckily, all of them except Agumon (to whom it came as a surprise, and yet another disadvantage of the human body) could see in the dark. Nabucaprimon had put the torch out, since it would not make for a very subtle entry.  
As usual, Tai was the leader, and as such the first to reach the other end. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was barred by an old, rusty portcullis. The Dark Lord had no use for the passage, so had blocked it off and forgotten about it.  
Tai turned around. Slashmon's orange eyes glared out at him from above and to one side of Feninermon's piercing blue ones. Nabucaprimon's green, narrowed eyes glowed high up in the darkness. Agumon was only a silhouette. Though he would never have admitted it, not even to himself, Tai felt slightly intimidated. Again, he felt conspicuously small. If this was how Agumon felt all the time, he was even braver than he had previously thought. However, he set his jaw grimly and addressed them. "Any bright ideas now?" There was a silence. Feninermon put his nose to the ground, his sensitive nostrils picking up all kinds of evil, old, musty smells. Slashmon came forward and peered through the gaps, the light shining through giving her striped fur a striking effect. Tai followed her gaze. He could see no actual guards, as such; but this was the main courtyard, the central place of all activity, and it was crowded with digimon of all shapes and sizes. Some were marching, some were ambling. Most wore Dark Rings, many were evil by nature; here and there, he thought he thought he glimpsed a few with Dark Gems - and he was certain he saw a Gemmed human striding past once. He supposed there must be some who came here accidentally, and found they could not leave. "Well, there's a hole down there we could squeeze through," Agumon pointed to the base of the wall, almost startled by his own fingers again. "But I don't know what we'd do after that." "Keep walking," Nabucaprimon grunted, as if no more suggestions were needed. They all waited for her to continue. When it became clear he had to prompt her, Tai said: "And you might elaborate on that how.?" The elegant dinosaur sighed. "Look, the Dark Lord didn't build this himself. He's too lazy. So he used someone else's. He's got all these unused passages everywhere. I mean, oh right, this is the only one." They all stared at her. Her tone was dripping with sarcasm, but it was so layered they couldn't tell exactly what she meant by it all. Tai wondered what in the Digital World had possessed. the Digital World to give her the Crest of Sincerity. "So how does that help us?" Slashmon growled uncertainly. Nabucaprimon looked close to roaring in frustration at their stupidity. "I was being sarcastic!" she said. Tai finally understood what she was telling them. "Once you figure it out, I suppose that makes sense," he said. "There must be other passages around. As long as we know which ones to take, it should be simple to find this precious monster." "And my nose can find the right path, I guess," said Feninermon. So it was agreed, and within the next couple of minutes, they had formulated a Plan.  
  
Tai felt horribly conspicuous as he marched across the courtyard. He wore a shard of glass stuck to his chest with mould, and a fixed, vacant stare. He hoped his eyes didn't have to be red. Spaced around the courtyard, with chains around their necks or glass on their bodies, the others were all heading for the same destination as he was. It had been decided that it was impossible to sneak around the edges of such a busy, open place; so they were merely trying to blend in. Tai spotted the entrance they were making for - an old metal portcullis covered it. It was beginning to seem fairly standard in this place. He dodged around the stick- like legs of a strange digimon he had not seen before, and at last found himself in front of the doorway. Gently, he pushed on it. It was padlocked shut, so he began visually searching it for convenient gaps. Nabucaprimon bounded up to help him, testing it for weaknesses. Beads of sweat began trickling down his forehead as Agumon joined them, acutely aware that they were somewhat noticeable, especially with Agumon and himself, famous in many parts of the Digital World. Just as he was thinking of retreating and trying again, the other two came galloping through the crowd as if all subtly was forgotten - not a good sign. "We've got company," Slashmon muttered as she seized the padlock in one paw, inserting a blade into it with the other. Tai glanced behind him - the crowd was thick, but from the back a loud roar bellowed. It would not screen them for long. He turned back to Slashmon, her sharp eyes narrowed in concentration, her fangs jutting below her jaw. There was a click, and the padlock fell away. The gang slipped through and, as an afterthought, Agumon closed the door behind them.  
  
They continued in this way for a long time, sneaking down dark corridors, breaking into passages long ago fallen into disuse. The Ringed digimon sightings grew more and more frequent, corresponding with Feninermon's route predictions. Several times they were forced to fight, in silence as far as possible - however, they were all skilled at this, and defeated the various Rookie and Champion-level digimon they encountered. Nabucaprimon became agitated as they got nearer to their goal, and Fenienermon no longer even needed to sniff the ground. Tai started getting uneasy, his fiery body sensing the water ahead. They were close.  
And then they reached it - a metal, blank door, with no doorknob or bar. It was covered with malevolent designs, reminiscent of things Tai was sure he'd only ever seen in his sleep. Slashmon crept forward, looking around for any danger, padding with the silence of a wildcat despite her large claws. She turned back and hissed: "It's all clear for now, but I hear footsteps round the corner. We have roughly a minute before whatever it is sees us, and from the sound of it I don't think we want that to happen." "Why do you say that?" Agumon asked. Slashmon grinned, deliberately showing her fangs. "Because I feel the tremors through the floor before I hear the sound." The gang exchanged glances, then made a frantic scrabble for the door, searching it and all the area around it. Nabucaprimon sniffed the surface, reeling in disgust. Tai felt for flaws in the rock surrounding it; Agumon looked for hidden panels or switches. Feninermon and Slashmon disappeared around the bend, Feninermon with his nose to the ground. Before long, Tai could feel the mini-earthquakes in his feet. It made sense that the Dark Lord would protect this place the best.  
"INTRUDEEERRRS!"  
The roar was so loud and so deep that it vibrated the very rock, so that it visibly moved. Tai leaped in the air and glanced around. The metal door was slowly lifting straight upwards, but so slowly. Regular bursts of thunder sent yet more shudders through the ground. Tai felt sure it would crack open soon. He realised that these were in fact footfalls. they were accompanied by a light skittering, which turned out to be Slashmon, riding Feninermon, galloping at such a speed they almost seemed to fly. They skidded around the corner, and Slashmon practically fell off the large canine. "Get through that door!" Feninermon snarled in terror, crawling towards it as he spoke. Tai looked at it, and realised it was nearly big enough for him to squeeze through. He turned anxiously back to the passage - the roars and stomping were so loud now that his feet left the floor every time the monster's feet hit it. Just then, Agumon grabbed him from behind, and clutching him tightly rolled under the door. The metal scraped the boy's shoulder, but nothing worse. Slashmon wriggled under, groaning about how she needed to lose weight. "That's nothing compared to me!" Cried Nabucaprimon, pawing the ground in near panic. Feninermon looked at her critically, then, as if an inspiration had suddenly come, barked at her: "Lie down and use your tail to get through! You're thin enough, but you'll need to pretend you're swimming!" Nabucaprimon almost set upon him at the suggestion of this indignity, but then another roar echoed down the passage. With much baring of teeth, she did as he had suggested, and was through with surprising ease. Feninermon was having trouble, though - he was squarely built, and worming through tight spaces did not come naturally to him. On an impulse, Tai grabbed him with a claw, pulling with all his might. Still the monster came nearer. Slashmon darted back out beneath the gap and shoved Feninermon in, pushing down his shoulders and giving him a hefty kick in the rear. Not a moment too soon, she rolled back in, and Nabucaprimon gladly smashed the control panel on the inside of the door. The foot-thick metal slid down with a crash, and all they got was a glimpse of teeth the size of Tai before the monster was blocked from view.  
At last, Tai turned around to see the place they had trapped themselves inside. It was a vast cavern, with a roof barely high enough for Tai to walk under - Nabucaprimon slunk along in a velociraptor stance. However, he could not even guess at how deep it went. It was almost entirely filled with one deep, dark pool. Gloflymon lanterns lit the place rather spectacularly, sending shimmers across the gentle ripples floating over the surface. The ripples were caused by two gigantic flukes, taking up more than a quarter of the entire pool. Tai gazed at them in wonder, and tried to imagine what beast owned those. Then the inspiration came - a digimon he had only seen once before, who did not seem to have any levels lower or higher than his Ultimate. Whamon, ruler of the seas, guardian of the waves, majestic emperor of the boundless ocean. So what was he doing here?  
Nabucaprimon gave a growl of rage behind him. He looked back, and saw Slashmon snarling, sharp teeth bared. "He shouldn't be here," Nabucaprimon said. "He can barely move. This is wrong. He should be roaming the high seas. Why is he here?" She stamped her powerful hind leg in anger. Feninermon added thoughtfully, "Why hasn't the Dark Lord put a Dark Gem or Ring on him, at least? I wonder what the plans are here. it makes no sense, to keep a digimon this powerful locked up without a chance to fight on either side." Agumon nodded and frowned.  
Before they could ponder further, however, there came a drumming from behind the door. It sounded distant, but unmistakable - a pounding and skittering, an army approaching. It grew louder and louder as they stood, rigid with fear. Then, just as they were shifting nervously and about to dive into the pool, it stopped. There was silence. "I know you are in there. and I know who you are," a low, rumbling yet hissing voice called from behind the door. It was The voice, the one they all remembered with a grimace. It was the Dark Lord. They glanced at one another, the Agumon bravely stepped forward. "Maybe so, but you can't get us!" he shouted. Tai was very relieved he had done so - his adolescent human voice sounded much more impressive than Tai's Rookie squeaky one would. "Nabucaprimon, is there anything on the control panel to open the underwater portcullis?" Nabucaprimon looked guiltily at the smouldering, sparking wreckage that had been the control panel. "Umm. I suppose there might have been." she said. Slashmon scowled at her. "Well it's not much use to us now, is it?" She snapped. Nabucaprimon roared at her in return. Tai could see things were going to get messy. The atmosphere was tense and highly-strung. "Hold it, girls!" Feninermon barked, bounding in between them. "Slashmon, this is not the time." He rubbed his face against her shoulder in a gesture of friendliness. Tai nodded at Nabucaprimon, and she winked at him. At that moment, there was a juddering thud on the door, and a concave dent appeared on their side. There was a squeal of pain, then another thud. Nabucaprimon swished her tail; Slashmon crouched low nervously. "Quickly! There must be a manual emergency switch of some sort! Nabucaprimon, Agumon, Feninermon, swim down there and get to it!" Tai yelled. Just as Nabucaprimon stomped past, he stopped her and whispered almost inaudibly, "And be careful, won't you?" She snorted in disgust, but whether or not she was being sincere was another matter. Then she thundered on, to dive gracefully underwater with barely a ripple. Agumon was already treading water, looking around for any obvious buttons or levers; Tai saw Slashmon give her farewell to Feninermon as he splashed down and disappeared in the murky blue. Tai and Slashmon moved unconsciously closer together as the door bent inwards almost to the point of breaking. He glimpsed teeth, claws, muscle and saliva through the gap it created, and Slashmon whined, in an almost four-legged postion, edging ever backwards. Tai set his jaw grimly - they would not go down without a fight.  
And then, with one last crash, all hell broke loose. Digimon of all shapes, colours and sizes burst in through the door, some as short as Tai, some scraping their lowered heads on the roof. Tai recognised the beast that had chased him even before it entered - Triceramon, standing on two legs, far too big to fit through the entrance. Still, he tried, and with yet more chaos smashed through wall and roof. This, as Tai now saw, was quite a feat - the roof was at least two feet thick. Daylight shone through the opening, filling him with new hope.  
Amid the heaps of stone rubble, Triceramon was attempting to stand. Three rodent-like digimon launched themselves at Tai, but he quickly knocked them out with a Pepperbreath. Suddenly, something smashed into him from behind - Tai never saw what it was, for it flung him far out into the pool. He went under, water filling his ears, nose, mouth. and then something rocketed up from beneath him, sending him flying back out again, into the head of another large digimon. He was back in the fray.  
Nabucaprimon, having made sure Tai was still fighting, swam energetically just under the surface of the water, ignoring missiles, attacks and rocks launched her way. She had found the emergency control panel, on a shelf of dry land the other side of the underground lake. But she had yet to figure out how to work it. She saw Agumon floundering in the water nearby, and swept him over her back - his human fingers would be useful on the panel.  
Slashmon was not especially speedy or strong, but her agility lent her the edge as she fought, weaving, ducking and dodging, adding her own occasional swipe of her bladed claws, or a bite to the neck, or a kick with the powerful hind legs. She blasted a group of Bakemon with flames, leaping in the air as a Boarmon charged beneath her. Triceramon was suddenly looming above her, a black ring around his neck. She made an instant, rather rash decision, infused by the heat of battle, and sprang for his throat. Halfway through the air, however, she was intercepted by a winged digimon, who winded her and left her to fall back down.  
Feninermon was out of breath, kept busy defending the waterfront from sea digimon. Glancing out across the pool, he saw Agumon and Nabucaprimon working frantically to unlock the code which restricted the portcullis from opening. Nabucaprimon was constantly having to lash out and keep the Scubamon from attacking Agumon as he typed. Feninermon turned back to the main battlescene, looking for Slashmon. He saw her go hurtling through the air, and at that point his concentration was broken. A howl escaped his mouth as he leaped back into the water, but too late - Metalseadramon was already worming his snakelike way in a wobbly beeline to the ledge and the control panel. Feninermon growled, but stood his ground. Something was warning him to leave this to the water, an instinct he hadn't known he owned. So he returned to the defensive, galloping straight into a tightly knit group of enemies and scattering them like autumn leaves.  
And then, there was a moment of utter silence. A slight sound, piercingly beautiful, yet sad, forceful, furious.  
The song of the waves burst forth. The pool exploded in a million brilliant crystal droplets, shimmering and sparkling in the morning sunlight. A sound like the singing of a god echoed around each of them, filling the room, high and smooth yet deep and growling, both at the same time. It was the roar of a beast; it was the song of a mermaid.  
And at the same time, an island rose from the waves. It was long, blue and wrinkled, stretching from the battle side to the little control panel. Metalseadramon emerged briefly, jumping over the causeway like a Dolphmon, free of the black ring that had been affixed to his neck. He was not likely to help the post-humans, in fact was still probably going to try and kill them; but now he had a score to settle with the Dark Lord, too, and was determined his forces would pay for his imprisonment.  
Like a tsunami flowing over land, the entire army surged over the new pathway. Tai saw them coming from the beginning, and called to Feninermon. The canine digimon recognised the situation, and realised what Tai wanted. With the speed of his kind, he raced over to the small dinosaur, picking up Slashmon on the way, and with both of them clinging grimly onto him dived once more into the water. He used his wide paws and sleek, water-adapted body to propel him at a great speed toward Agumon and Nabucaprimon, quickly overtaking the advancing hordes. Luckily, there had not been time to summon speciality digimon such as the newly-discovered Cheetamon, duo-digevolved for speed and ferocity. As it was, Feninermon flew from the water, landing ashore to see the enslaved digimon within a stone's throw (if thrown by a strong and skilful hand). Slashmon fell from his back, tumbling over and over before staggering upright at the base of the wall. She shook herself and returned to Feninermon's side, pulling him upright as he struggled to stand through his exhaustion after such a race. A determined glare came into his eyes, mirrored by the vicious look in Slashmon's. The two stood, poised, waiting for the storm to descend. Tai had leaped to his reptilian feet even as Feninermon crash-landed, skidding to a halt beside Agumon, in front of Nabucaprimon, who was still industriously working, facing the other way. "I'm almost through," she growled in concentration. "I need to hack through this system, then I can simply use brute force on that lever." Her eyes gleamed eagerly. "Of course, if there's gonna be a fight, I'm in!" "No, Nabucaprimon!" Tai snapped. "You just stay right there. But be quick - I'm not sure just how long I can hold this lot off for!" Nabucaprimon glanced back fleetingly at the stampeding enemies, now so close she could see the glowing red triumph in their possessed eyes. "You can't possibly hope to defend against them!" She snarled furiously. "Get outta here!" Tai looked steadily into her challenging gaze, and more passed between them in that brief moment than could ever be realised, perhaps even by themselves. But Nabucaprimon's expression softened visibly, and she opened her mouth to say one word. "Thanks."  
As one, Tai, Agumon, Feninermon, Slashmon and Nabucaprimon (who had decided that the situation was hopeless and she might as well die in battle) sprang at the throats of the digimon towering above them. As many, the forces of the Dark Lord charged into them, sending out attacks in perfect unison. But the two sides never collided.  
  
Tai saw human legs in front of him. He looked up and saw Agumon's face gazing about in wonder. Tai heard the familiar ear-splitting whistle, saw the flashing lights spinning around the pair of them, recognised the inside of a spectacular computer matrix. "Tai." "Agumon." Their two voices cried at exactly the same time, ".digevolved to." And Tai recognised this change, though not from this point of view. He merged, somehow, with Agumon - or rather Agumon merged with him - as he grew metal armour, ragged spikes on his back, stripes and an entire metal-encased, clawed arm. ".Metalgreymon!" He roared.  
  
Feninermon felt enormously relieved as he began the changes, Gabumon within recognising early on the transformations, even though they were from a different body. "Feninermon digevolved to." Half of him - presumably the Matt half - felt power and happiness surge through him as he stood on two legs once more and thick, leather armour strapped itself onto parts of him. A ball of white light rose above his head, a piece of moon. ".Weregarurumon!" He howled to the lunar illusion.  
  
Simultaneously, Slashmon found herself growing, her own body diminishing until it was merely a skin draped over her back. "Slashmon digevolved to." A thick, heavy tail hung from the back of it. Its grey feline head hung over her own new dark red-tawny one. The front legs and huge claws of the pelt fell around hers, and on instinct she grasped the bars inside. Those claws were her weapons. However, the sheer weight of them dragged her body into a crouching pose. As if to balance this, giant, dragonlike wings shot from her shoulderblades. A glint came into her slitted eyes, and she gushed a burst of bright flame from her jaws. ".Dracodichamon!"  
  
And for the first time since becoming a digimon, perhaps since Tai had met her, Nabucaprimon had been sincere. "Nabucaprimon digevolved to." She too whirled in colour, bursting in showers of multicoloured sparks, feeling new energy surge through her. She grew even larger, dropped down on four sturdy legs, watched as armour covered in symbols and designs rose up her limbs, became one with her tail, forming a gold helmet more for looks than for defence. Her claws were huge, her ears long and trailing, her shape streamlined but powerful. ".Griforacaprimon!"  
  
The foursome stood, each huge, menacing, confident. And the wave of digimon skidded in their furious charge, huge claws and tiny paws, all scraping up the dust in their effort to stop. For a moment, the two sides stared at each other, both surprised, both terrified. Then Metalgreymon took a deep breath. Garurumon crouched back, Dracodichamon filled her lungs, Griforacaprimon set her legs low and wide and opened her jaws in anticipation.  
They struck at the same time, as one enormous blast that shook the roof and caused small trickles of dust to fall. The noise was almost enough to deafen an onlooker, and the flash of lights glowed through the hole in the rock.  
Even before the dust settled, Weregarurumon had punched in the final letters of the code, and was leaning heavily on the lever. It had been designed for a digimon with great muscle power - even he strained and sweated as he pushed with all his might. Then, finally, it swung down.  
There was a grinding, and the entire cave shook this time. Metalgreymon looked dubiously at the shaking roof. But from far down beneath the water, a ray of faint blue light shone through.  
The enemy digimon who had survived the attack were suddenly falling about all over the place, slipping and sliding in their effort to stay upright. Peering closer, Metalgreymon saw that the island - Whamon - was moving. Some of the digimon further behind attempted to run back to shore; but they never made it. With a new, joyous song bursting from the water's depths, the entire causeway sank beneath the surface, leaving the hordes floundering in the vast pool. Metalgreymon pitied them, even after what they had attempted to do to him - they were only slaves, and it was really the Dark Lord controlling them. They had done nothing to deserve this.  
Meanwhile, the ray of light was expanding, lighting up the cavern with shimmering turquoise patterns. It was awe-inspiringly beautiful, and heart-achingly relieving after so long in the gloom. A huge, dark shape was now visible, larger at one end by far then the other, facing the opening gap. From across the water, though Tai could not see it's owner, he heard the hissing roar: "No! You cannot leave, not yet! I forbid you to go through that entrance!" It was immensely satisfying, and he watched with a new joy in his heart the dark shape diminish with a flick of its tail, getting shorter and shorter, blocking out the new-found light. until the cavern was floodlit once more, and it was gone. 


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 - Showdown  
  
"Maybe we could try and sneak in somehow?" The suggestion was Breddy's, and like so many other hopeless ideas was soon rejected. "No. There is no way in, not one we can use at any rate. If there was it would not be a Dark Fortress." The gang fell back into silence. Jake sighed heavily - they had sat through the night, and the next morning, and still had managed only one remotely feasible idea. He was unwilling to use it, since it stretched them very thin and relied on him finding the Dark Lord almost instantly; and he was determined not to leave without KT. "I'm sorry, Jake." Falmon came to sit beside him consolingly. "She wouldn't stay out this long unless something. happened. She's probably just gotten lost or something." She trailed off. Jake stared straight ahead, motionless. He knew she was right, but. "Look, sitting here all day isn't going to get us anywhere." Ali stood, speaking boldly for the first time. "For all we know, the Dark Lord could be fitting a perfected Dark Gem on his water beast as we speak -" "Or sit and not speak, anyway," Paul muttered as he stroked Mossmon - " - and we're doing nothing about it! We have a plan. Now let's go!" Jake turned his head to see her - she evidently had hidden leadership qualities. "Wodemon will bash us a way in. Zappamon and Amparamon will hold back the Dark forces, while Oramon will try to find the Dark Lord. When she does, she'll give us some sort of signal, and we'll all gang up on him and defeat him. Right?" Paul nodded. Breddy agreed, though with a worried frown. Their plan was hopeless, but there was no other. Ben was sitting gazing out across the inlet at the Fortress, seemingly oblivious to their debate. They all turned to Jake. Jake thought harder that moment than he had yet on their quest. Upon this decision rested their lives, and possibly the fate of their worlds. He hoped it was the right one. He closed his eyes and, barely perceptibly, nodded.  
  
KT woke up to a throbbing skull and bruises all over. Dazed, she looked about. She had not been moved from where she last was - a metal cage in the Dark Lord's central chamber. A flood of memories came back to her, and she hugged Leviomon tightly to her for comfort. The servants of the Dark Lord had questioned her closely, using methods both physical and mental to extract answers. They had gained none, however, and the last thing she remembered was a furious blast of dark energy filling the room and knocking out everything inside it. Interestingly enough, she still had not seen the Dark Lord. She remembered Leviomon saying at one point that he must be very ugly, since he was so reluctant to show himself. She looked down at her digimon now - filthy and wounded, but gazing up at her with the same trust and love he had always had. "You done thinking yet?" He asked croakily. "Only I think we should get going. We can get better accommodation elsewhere. I wouldn't recommend this hotel to anyone else, no way! Those bars are weak from the Dark Lord's attack." "You think it was the Dark Lord, then?" "Well, I certainly hope so - no other digimon I know has that amount of power. And did you see the way he controlled those minions of his?" KT shuddered - his minions were all creepy and red-eyed, with simple, twisted minds and long claws. Leviomon was already squirming his way across the floor towards the bars to inspect the bars, verifying that they were indeed weak and wondering which attack would work best on them. "Wait, wait!" Said KT, laughing. Leviomon turned to her blankly. "Why?" He asked. KT opened her mouth, but couldn't think of a reply. In the stories, it never happened like this, just get up and bust out. Surely there was a catch. "Leviomon, just how are you planning to break through those bars? Do you have enough energy to digevolve?" In answer, Leviomon struck his show pose and cried out, "Leviomon digevolved to." And several seconds later, opened his bright eyes. It was an effort, and he was still Leviomon. He yawned disappointedly, and said to KT (who was sitting with a smug if crestfallen smile), "Perhaps I'd better get some sleep first. Do you have any food? I'm." KT shook her head, her eyelids already drooping. Before long, the pair were asleep again.  
  
Less than two hours later, KT sensed it was time to go. Leviomon was already awake and ready, and she held out her digivice. "Leviomon digevolved to. Mermon!"  
  
Oramon stood in the exit tunnel of the cave, watching the rain squalling over the crashing waves. The sky was a whirl of dark clouds, the occasional silhouette of a winged watcher spiralling among them, in its natural element. She looked out at the young boy sitting right at the entrance, drenched to the skin by rain and spray, straggly hair blowing in the gale. His dark blue eyes reflected the stormy weather outside. For some reason, Oramon was almost afraid to approach him. Something was going on deep down inside him, and it scared her. Behind her, Jake was running through their plan once more. She shook her head sadly - they all knew privately that this was going to be their last few hours as free peoples, possibly even living peoples. But maybe, just maybe, there was a chance they would strike lucky and pull this one off. She stared harder. What was that? For a moment, she thought she'd seen a black, smooth hump rise out of the sea. there it was again, but much bigger this time! It disappeared, and a second later reappeared half the size again - or rather, as she saw now, closer. Whatever it was would reach them in less than a minute, and in this place it was unlikely to be friendly. "Quickly! Jake, everyone, come look at this!" She shouted down the tunnel. There was a shuffling and scrabbling, then the whole gang appeared round the corner. Jake stood beside her. "What is it, Oramon?" He asked. "Zappamon, be ready," she said quietly to the electric digimon. If the object in the water was decidedly unfriendly, Zappamon would easily electrocute it, surrounded as it was by water. "Wait. you see that?" She answered Jake, pointing out. There was no need to point, however, for now it was only a couple hundred metres away, and as large as a horse. They watched nervously. At roughly one hundred metres, it was as big as an elephant. Ben stood up slowly, his troubled gaze fixed on the thing. At about fifty metres, it rose to about twice the height of Oramon, then sank beneath and did not reappear. The tension in the air, the nervousness, was enough to make a weaker kid bolt. But they stood still, hardly daring to breathe, waiting. Then it rose. Right in front of their entrance, with a deafening roar, water flooding everywhere, washing over them and filling the cave behind them. It was huge and brown, rounded. Waves rolled down it and collided with the chaos of the sea below. It rose, higher and higher, until it towered over them, dripping gigantic droplets all over them. Jake gaped up at it, only to get a mouthful of seawater. The brown object rose even further, to reveal a jagged lower edge like sharp rocks. For some reason, they reminded Jake of teeth. Finally, as the last rivers of water drained off it, he spotted two areas of movement, one on each side of it. The brown surfaces cracked apart, opening wider and wider. until they revealed two huge, shiny eyes. "Wam! Wam!" Ben cheered, leaping to his soggy feet and waving his arms in the air. At last, Jake understood. It was like the lightbulb had been switched on in his brain. "Whamon?" He asked the beast. The eyes turned to him, then a vast, deep, bass voice growled at them: "It is I." For a moment, they all stood in awestruck silence, Whamon regarding each of them in turn. Then he spoke again. "Rauruben-rah, I am thy humble servant, and thy companion. I have long awaited this meeting, though had I the chance I would not have waited quite this long. Yet it appears I have come just in time. That is good." Jake was looking around, but could not see who the leviathon was actually talking to. "Um. Whamon?" He called up to the beast, as loud as he could while trying to seem polite, "Who is this. Rarubinra? And what do you mean, "just in time"? I don't understand." The eyes peered down at him, and the answer came soon. "This child mine partner is, Rauruben-rah by title. He is ruler of the seas. But we do not have long to talk. We must leave, and fast - Maludarymon is angry, and he prepares to make his move. This cannot be allowed to happen, or his wilt be the last." Whamon lapsed into silence and closed his eyes pensively. "What is he talking about? How do we know we can trust him?" Jake hissed to Oramon. She narrowed her eyes and said thoughtfully, "We can trust him. He is Whamon, after all. He is saying we need to get a move on. I don't know who Maludarymon is, but. wait, what's Ben doing now?" The boy had clambered back to his feet and was holding something in the air, towards Whamon. There was a high-pitched whistling noise, faint but distinct, in the air. Jake stared. "Is that. a digivice?" Breddy asked incredulously. As one, their gaze moved upwards. And with perfect timing, Whamon's eyes snapped open.  
  
The leviathon of the waves was in the digevolving universe, in the matrix, amid the colours. "Whamon digevolved to." He cried, his voice powerful and deep enough to shake the foundations of the earth. For a moment, his shape was nothing but bright light, shifting and changing like the reflections from water. Then it solidified again, only this time in a humanoid form. Fin-like blades sprung from the creature's arms, heavy yet stylish armour covering his body. His face was wise yet fierce, courageous yet dignified. His eyes were of the brightest blue, and broad, flat flukes grew from his shoulders as wings. He used both hands to hold a massive, curved-bladed sword. He was the image of power and leadership. ". Warriorwhamon!" He cried, with a deep but now more human voice.  
  
The children gazed in awe at the warrior before them. He stood at least twice as tall as Angemon, and looked much fiercer. Ben's blue eyes welled up with joyous tears - after so long alone, it was wonderful to have such a powerful and majestic partner. Warriorwhamon just smiled briefly, then turned and frowned at the Fortress. "We do not have much time," he said simply. "I must fight the Dark Lord. You others, follow me. This will be a tough battle." He turned and looked at them. "But we will win it. We must, or our worlds are doomed." Jake nodded determinedly in agreement. He was fed up with endless planning, debating, talking. They needed to take action. With movements as graceful as a dolphin leaping from the waves, Warriorwhamon took to the air, the flukes spreading wider than the kids could see in the rainy mist. He soared out, barely above the surface of the waves, the backdraught from his flight ploughing through the sea. Like a gigantic bird, he pivoted on one wing, reaching out towards the children. and then he was off again, Ben on his shoulders, laughing and screaming at once. Jake stared after them, and shook his head in bewilderment and amazement. It was all happening so fast. "Come on, guys. There's no way he can do this alone." Oramon said. Jake looked up at her, and she grinned back. "Coming?" He nodded - yes, it was a whirl of big things all happening at once. but his task was simple. He climbed onto her shoulders, above her white wings, and looked back. Amparamon had withdrawn her spikes in order for Ali to nervously mount; Zappamon was giving Breddy a piggyback ride; Paul was almost lost among Wodemon's thick green fur. Jake sighed - their gang was incomplete, and he did not like going into battle this way. But they had no choice, and with a grim delight on his face, he yelled out the most satisfying words a leader can yell: "Let's go kick some Dark Butt!"  
  
KT scampered around another corner, breathing heavily, looking fearfully around. This kind of thing was not her forte - sneaking around, hiding, watching. Yet again she wished heartily that she was with her friends, in the battle above. Another crash shook the foundations of the Fortress. KT made a grab for the wall, nearly falling over Leviomon, who had curled tightly around her ankles in panic. Dust and grit flaked down around her, and she closed her eyes and spluttered as it entered her mouth. This was how she knew there was a battle - the Fortress was falling, and though this gave her new hope, it was only the building. Presumably it was her friends up there, unless they had been killed or captured already; but she tried not to think about that. She cautiously opened her eyes as she felt Leviomon slide away from her, and followed him. Neither of them had any idea which way to go, but she had assumed they were fairly near the centre, therefore any direction would get them out eventually. A chunk of rock landed just inches from her foot, and she thought she heard a faint roar far above. Blindly, she ran on, terrified and desperate, trying hard to turn from the path of panic. She would get out. Wouldn't she?  
  
Up on the surface, Jake had leaped from Oramon's shoulders upon entering the courtyard, so she could move more freely. He, Ali, Breddy and Paul had all grouped together, trying to stay out of trouble as much as possible and yelling encouragement and advice to their digimon. "Watch out behind you, Oramon!" "That's it, Amparamon!" "Go for the big guy! No, the other one! No. never mind!" Jake glanced over at the big, decorative archway through which the aquine warrior had flown. There was no sign of him yet; they would just have to keep battling until he won. "Jake, duck!" Oramon cried from across the yard. He followed her order almost without thinking, and a boulder went flying over his head to crash into Leomon. The lion digimon rumbled with an enormous growl from beneath the rock, and then opened his eyes wide. They were a normal colour again - the Dark Ring was fractured into a thousand black shards. He roared and rose to rejoin the fight, this time on the other side.  
  
KT was sprinting for her life, in sheer panic, running like she would never stop. and then she was falling, and something cold was against her ankle, and her face hit the hard cold ground. Leviomon peeked from beneath her ankle. He had tripped her up. "Owwmmmm...!" She screamed. Now, he had slithered to her side and clamped a hand over her mouth. Her breathing slowed, her heart stopped thudding as if it was trying to escape her ribcage, the pain faded fast. "You're not hurt, just please don't scream, and for heaven's sake stop running," Leviomon whispered urgently. "I sense a very very evil presence behind those gates, and I hear a lot of loud noise. I don't think it's something we want to get involved in, in fact we should avoid it. I'm hungry, are you? Must be all that running, I guess, really takes it outta." KT recovered herself and shoved the irrepressible reptile off her. "What gate? Noise. oh," she said softly. A furious roar had boomed around them, followed by a painfully high-pitched shriek. She righted herself and made some attempt at getting the dirt out of her clothes and hair, then poked her head around the next corner. Twin gates stood there, ornate and black, smashed wide open by some unseen force. Behind them was only darkness, and cries of battle. Suddenly, there was a shout. "Shadow wave!" The voice was deep and evil, yet high-pitched enough to hurt the ears, like a very bad radio signal. Leviomon dived into KT when he heard this, knocking her down once again; this time, he held her there. She stared up at the ceiling, wondering what the matter was; then the world went silent. She waited, not knowing what to expect, feeling the suspense grow almost unbearable. Then, the darkness came. A black tide, like a sped-up onset of night, flowed above her head, casting a shadow on her and her partner and scoring strange dark lines on the walls. It was eerie, like a ghostly being set free upon the world, and it carried on down the passage, far beyond her line of vision. Leviomon snuggled up closely to her, his bright eyes wide with fear as he witnessed the evil passing right over their heads. The silence was broken by a scream of agony, and the horrible laughter of an evil ruler. Then the world came crashing down.  
  
Outside, everyone had heard the scream. Everyone had stopped, perfectly still, wondering who had won. Then deep cracks appeared in the very centre of the courtyard. Digimon had no time to get away, save those who could fly - Oramon and Zappamon bowled into their friends and sent them all tumbling to the outer wall. The crevices split wider, gaping ravines, splintering the very rock. Jake peered closely at their source, a spidery mass of cracks that could not possibly hold for much longer. CRASH! Something huge burst from the centre of the courtyard, a white-and- blue something with rugged, beaten armour. It fell as fast as it had shot up into the air, and landed with enough force to slam some of the newly- jutting rocks back below the surface. There it lay, and diminished until it was a beached Whamon. Jake stared. It was a mistake, it wasn't real, that couldn't be him. but it was, and as the multitude of possessed monsters realised the same thing a cheer went up, nasty and foul - they had won. Jake could do nothing but gaze at the defeated leviathon, listen to the grunts and roars and growls. Then he felt the pressure of his friends' bodies against his, and he looked up fearfully. The digimon were closing in.  
  
KT coughed and choked as the dust filled her lungs, wiping her streaming eyes. Something heavy was weighing down her legs, trapping her in the heap of rubble. Light streamed down, glorious sunlight; though it was accompanied by a cacophony of fierce noise. "Levio." She croaked, and burst into another fit of coughing. The bright blue head of her digimon appeared in the clouds, then disappeared again. The weight was shortly removed from her legs, and something rolled to a standstill a metre away. "Come on, come on, get up!" Leviomon's squeaky voice encouraged her. She sat up and squinted at him. "Why? What's going on?" "Well, the Dark Lord just defeated Warriorwhamon - that is, the main warrior on our side! Our friends are in grave danger!" "I don't see what we can do about it." "Fight, of course! The Dark Lord is tired and has spent much of his energy. This may be our only chance! And if we don't, we'll end up fighting for him!" KT closed her eyes and processed all this information slowly and carefully - it was a lot to take in after being nearly killed by a boulder. "He's through that way," Leviomon said pointedly. KT frowned. This was a big decision - fighting could result in getting her killed. But then, she heard a scream from far above. The sound stopped her heart momentarily, and clogged her throat. It was Breddy who had screamed, and now she heard the cry of a fallen digimon - Zappamon. They were in trouble, before she even had time to reunite with them. They could not last alone. She glanced down in the direction Leviomon was gesturing, an entrance with only shadows beyond. She could feel the malevolence flowing from it. Another scream rent the air, and she set her face grimly. Suddenly, it was all clear.  
  
She saw Leviomon in front of her, laughing delightedly, saw the digitised world whirling around them. Grinning, she said with her partner, in perfect unison: "Leviomon." "KT." "Digevolved to." And then she was on four legs, hooves hard as diamonds where her hands and feet were, flowing into Leviomon's smooth, long, streamlined body, arching her strong neck. Armour rose up her limbs and washed down her back like water; the reptilian spikes had to multiply to reach the end of her long tail. Her blue body was decorated with white swirls, and Mermon's helmet, now resized and coloured, was upon her head. ".Aquinequamon!" She cried in a voice as pure as crystals, beautiful and lilting. She was no seahorse, but a horse of the sea. She was elegant and streamlined, but right now. she narrowed her bright blue eyes. She was filled with wrath, hurt. her friends were in danger, and all their troubles were the fault of one being. She glared at the dark opening. From the midst of the shadows, she thought, for a moment, she saw two red slits glaring back. That did it. She reared, striking out with her hooves, whinnying - though it was more like a song - and charged at the entrance. It seemed for a moment almost as if foam was spraying all around her, a wave bearing her along, galloping faster than any land horse ever could. She was the white horse of the waves, unstoppable, destructive, and yet enchanting. The red eyes opened wide, staring right at her, and a huge purple maw opened wide beneath them. "White charger!" She shouted in the Dark Lord's face; her best attack, and her only hope. Then the surf hit the sand, and all was chaos.  
  
Jake had seen none of this, but he had heard the reptilian whinny, and instinctively known who it was - you can't avoid thinking like that when you're that close to a person. Instantly, he had disregarded all danger, and ran to the gap in the courtyard. "KT!" He screamed, frantically looking into every dark corner. A flash of white caught his attention, and he saw Aquinequamon go flying backwards into the centre. "Shadow wave!" The horrible voice roared. The air was silent and still, there was no way out for the water horse. In sheer recklessness, all sense lost, Jake leaped from the edge. Suddenly the ground was nearing much faster, the wind was blowing in his ears - not whistling, for the attack had cancelled out all sound, all the blood was rushing to his head.  
  
And the next thing he knew, he had stopped falling, the landscape had changed, and Falmon was standing in front of him. "Falmon." "Jake." "Digevolved to." He watched in amazement as his hair grew to his shoulders, boots appeared on his feet, leather strips were wrapped around his hands, which were now paws, his legs were those of an animal, he was covered in golden fur. a breastplate finished the effect, and he reached out and snatched a giant two-handed sword as it came flying down out of no-where. ". Heroarimon!" He boomed.  
  
With enough force to shake the tormented earth yet again, he landed on two feet, perfectly balanced and not at all hurt. For a brief second, he shared a silent glance with Aquinequamon. then, in the silence, both of them turned and charged. It was extremely weird: they were roaring and gallpoing and pounding and yelling out their attacks, yet it was all done in slow motion, and complete silence. The black shadow that was the Dark Lord seemed to be darkening somehow - they assumed this was in preparation for his ultimate attack. But the final blast never came - as one, Aquinequamon and Heroarimon struck with a dual blast of fire and water, and sheer strength as they cannoned into him. The Dark Lord burst like a popped balloon. Waves of shadow emanated from him, spreading past the walls, up to the clouds, far down the tunnels, knocking down everything in their path. In the lower reaches of the structure, Tai, Matt, the girls and their digimon had de-digevolved back into their old selves, and fortunately had run away beforehand. The wave swept them off their feet. and they did not return to the ground. Up on the surface, Breddy, Ali, Paul and their partners had all but given up on a losing battle, when the darkness came and swallowed them. Normal sunlight shone done on the wreckage of the Fortress, which now looked as deserted and crumbling as it had before the Dark Lord moved in. The strangest thing was, it was deserted - no digimon, humans or shadow remained. Only the Airdramon wheeled high up in the sky, now cloudless, surveying the landscape which at last was the truth.  
  
KT opened her eyes. A ceiling faced them, at a distance. It was warm and comfortable where she was, except painfully bright sunlight streaming in through a gap in. the curtains, she saw. Blue curtains. She knew where she was - in bed, at home. She frowned. What about the Digital World? "KT, time to get up, or you won't have time for breakfast!" A cheerful voice called up to her. Her mom. "Yeah, and you'll make me late for school!" Siathuri? But. surely not.  
  
Working on Autopilot, KT dressed and ate breakfast, all the while furiously denying the possibility of the Digital World being a dream. It was just too huge, it was impossible. "What's the matter? You're not whinging as much as you usually do," Thir said teasingly on the way to school. KT wasn't even listening - there was someone she had to see.  
  
"KT!" Boy, was she glad to hear that voice! It was Jake, and she ran over to him without even saying a word to her elder sister, who said something mean about romance. "Jake, it wasn't all." "It can't have just been." They both started at the same time, then stopped and stared at each other. "Jake," said KT, slowly and carefully, "did you go to the Digital World, get stuck there for the past few days, meet Falmon your digimon and defeat the Dark Lord?" Just as deliberately, Jake nodded. They both sighed in relief, but then Jake frowned in consternation. "I've already talked to the others. They can't remember a thing, and both think we're nuts. I mean, no-one can. They haven't even noticed we've been missing or anything. It's strange, and I was getting kinda worried about my sanity, to tell you the truth." KT agreed with him. "There's one way to find out what's happened - I bet the digimon will know, if they even exist. We can go now, before school starts. Let's hurry!"  
  
It is hard for the younger generation to get anywhere fast in a school like theirs, for the older kids are the ones who barge past them and shove them out of the way. But Jake and KT shouldered and elbowed their way up to the computer room, which was nearly deserted - it was not exactly a cool hangout. The only other boy in there was Izzy, who did not give them the slightest sign of recognition. Right now, though, they were not worried about that. KT skidded into a chair, her fingers typing even before she'd landed. Jake saw Izzy glance up at them curiously, but he probably assumed they had late homework to finish. Looking back at the computer screen, he noticed the lightbulb. It was red. "Come on, come on!" KT urged it. They both bent their wills furiously against it, creating tension so tight it seemed solid. The lightbulb blinked, and went green. The screen showed the usual grassy scene. "Leviomon!" KT called into it, not caring about the attention she might draw. Nothing. But then. a blue, sinuous figure slithered towards them, growing larger as it got nearer. The long, reptilian face of Leviomon appeared right in front of the screen. "How did you know my name?" He asked in puzzlement. KT gaped, distraught. But then he laughed, and shook his head. "Don't worry, KT, I know who you are and what you've been through. And." He added quickly, seeing Jake's mouth open questioningly, "Falmon's right." "Here! Hi Jake! I thought you two might be wondering what's going on, why only you can remember. It's from when we destroyed the Dark Lord. The blast of darkness spread all around, even leaking into your world. It caused amnesia, but it also sent things back the way they were before. at least, that might have been the blast. It might have been a Guardian, or it could have been Gennai. but it doesn't matter, anyway," she finished hastily, seeing the kids' forlornly bewildered expressions. "So how come we're the only ones who can remember?" KT asked. "We were right at the centre of the blast," Leviomon replied. "It was like the eye of the storm. From that small area, the darkness radiated out. But in the very middle was a spot of normal nothing. That's where we were. We still got sent back, though - that suggests that it was Gennai, or some other outside force." Jake nodded, not understanding a word of it but happy that there was an answer. KT let this sink in. So they were the only ones who knew what had happened. What about all the other digidestined around the world? Was everything normal again for them? Did they still know about their digimon? Her friends certainly didn't. but they must still exist, surely? Jake put his arm around her, and she smiled. At least now it was safe to come and go as they pleased between worlds - she could introduce Breddy and Ali to their digimon then. For now, she was happy just being with her partner, and knowing that it was real. 


End file.
